Roasted Lemon Garlic Artichokes are a great appetizer dish. They’re mild taste makes them a great intro to a meal, and they have great eye-appeal, don’t they?
I enjoy Roasted Lemon Garlic Artichokes for many reasons:
- They’re super tasty
- Filled with health benefits
- Low in calories – so long as you’re careful with the dip
Artichokes’ mild taste also makes them an ideal partner for dip. To make the dip, the garlic is roasted with the artichokes and then mashed into a hearty dollop of mayo and olive oil.
Artichokes hearts are the most commonly used part in recipes, but the true nourishment is in the leaves. That’s where the nutrients are that can ward off cancer and high cholesterol. Artichokes are also purported to protect the liver too, and particularly helpful in relieving IBS symptoms.
Roasted Lemon Garlic Artichokes are fun to eat, I get a certain satisfaction from pulling away each leaf, dipping it into the aioli and pulling away the flesh with my teeth – so delicious!
Artichokes can seem a little intimidating at first, but don’t let their appearance deter you from giving this recipe a try. If you follow the steps you should find your way to a great dish that you will likely make again and again.
Artichokes are available during two seasons, spring and fall. They’re widely available March through May, and then for a limited time in October. So hurry, get your artichokes and try this recipe soon.
I purchased my artichokes from Trader Joes – give them a try if you live in the US and having trouble finding them.
Roasted Lemon Garlic Artichokes
Ingredients
Roasted Artichokes
- 4 globe artichokes
- 3 lemons
- 8-12 garlic cloves cut in half
- 6-8 sprigs thyme
- Drizzle olive oil
- Salt to taste
Aioli
- Roasted garlic from roasted artichokes
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- Pinch salt
Equipment & Utensils
- Large bowl of cold water
- Roasting tin
- Aluminum foil
- Spoon
- Chef scissors
- Sharp chef knife
Instructions
Roasted Artichokes
- Cut 1 1/2 lemons in half and squeeze the juice into a large bowl of water.
- Add the squeezed lemons to the water also.
- Slice 1 lemon and set aside with remaining 1/2 of a lemon.
- Trim the artichoke stems and pull away any tough leaves and discard.
- With a scissors, trim away the tops of the thicker leaves of the artichokes, just a little, so that they do not prick you when eating them.
- To avoid the artichokes turning brown after cutting, steps 7 and 8 should be carried out quickly one artichoke at a time.
- With a chef knife, trim approximately 1 inch off the top of each artichoke and discard, then cut it in half lengthways.
- With a spoon, scoop out the fuzzy choke, from each half, then immediately drop it into the lemon water to avoid browning.
- Remove an artichoke half out of the lemon water, pat with a paper towel, then place in baking tin.
- Fill the center of the artichoke half with garlic and top with a half a sprig of thyme, and then a slice of lemon.
- Repeat steps 9 and 10 until you have all of the artichoke halves in the baking tin.
- Carefully turn each artichoke half over, using the lemon slice to stop the garlic and thyme from falling out.
- Any thyme you have left over should be scattered in the base of the baking tin.
- Drizzle the artichokes with olive oil, twice.
- Loosely cover baking tin with aluminum foil and place in a preheated oven at 400.
- Cook until artichokes become tender (approx. 50 mins to 1 hour)
- Once artichokes are tender, remove baking tin from oven and remove roasted garlic and place in a bowl.
- Turn each artichoke half over so that the cut side is facing upwards, leave the lemon and the thyme in the bottom of the baking tin.
- Raise temperature in oven to 425.
- Squeeze remaining half of lemon over the artichokes and sprinkle with a little salt to taste and return artichokes to oven without the foil.
- Allow artichokes to brown just a little, then remove from the oven.
Aioli
- Mash set aside garlic until smooth
- Add mayonnaise, olive oil and salt and whisk thoroughly.
- Divide aioli into four servings and serve with two artichoke halves.
- Sprinkle with a little black pepper, if desired.
