Fire Roasted Artichokes {Plus, How To: prep an Artichoke}

Recently I was out to dinner with some girlfriends and one of them ordered Fire Roasted Artichokes for an appetizer.  I had been wanting to try grilling artichokes at home, but had never gotten around to it.  When we were digging into the appetizer I realized it would be super easy to re-create the dish, especially since the dipping sauce the restaurant served with it tasted just like my Garlic-Herb Spread. A match made in heaven!

This time of year you can find artichokes readily available in grocery stores and just one large one can feed 2-4 adults.  I’m actually not a huge fan of regular steamed artichokes, but grilling gives them amazing flavor, plus they just look cool.  Try this for your next get together and it will surely impress!

First here’s a little tutorial on preparing an artichoke.  This goes for if you’re going to just steam and eat as well.

1. Remove stem– just snip the stem so it’s about an inch long

2. Trim the bracts– the pointy ends of the leaf looking things are sharp and poky so just take a pair of kitchen shears (or a clean pair of scissors) and snip the tips all the way around.

You can take a sharp knife and just cut off the very top.  I left it as is because I think it looks prettier when sliced in half, but that’s your call!

3. Steam–  At this point your artichoke is ready for steaming.  Even if you’re grilling your artichokes like I will be, you still need to steam them first.  Bring to boil a couple inches of water in a pot with a steamer insert (a mesh strainer will work if you’re in a pinch), place artichokes in stem side up and cover pot with a lid.  If you are going to eat your artichokes just steamed then they’ll need to stay in there for anywhere from 30-60 minutes depending on the size.

For these Fire Roasted Artichokes, just steam for 20 minutes and then remove and let cool until cool enough to handle.

4. Slice artichoke in half

5.  Remove the choke– that funny looking furry thing is the choke.  This part is pretty easy because artichokes are kind of color coded to show you what to do!  All of that purple stuff needs to come out.  Then just cut as the picture shows to make the choke removal easier.  Note that these parts of the artichoke are not edible.  Also note that this isn’t the “heart”.

After you make that slice shown, just use a spoon to scoop it all out.  It should come out pretty easily.

6. Oil and Season– Brush both sides of artichoke with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper

7.  Grill– place artichoke on a preheated grill (medium heat) center side up.  Grill with lid closed for about 10 minutes and then flip so the center is on the grill grates (shown below).  Continue grilling for another 5-10 minutes until you have nice grill marks and the flesh appears soft.

8.  Serve and eat! Place on a serving dish with your desired dipping condiments.  We love this Garlic-Herb spread and melted butter is always a classic.