Roman Olive Oil-Poached Artichokes
A Recipe from Karen Bond of Winters
Happy November! Our first recipe of the month comes from Karen and Malcolm Bond, who shared their story of starting an olive grove (and a small olive oil company) with us last month. It’s a great dish to make all year round.
Before we get to it, a quick housekeeping note: I have an exciting new food project that I’ll be working on over the course of the next few month (I’ll share more when I can!), so I’ll be sending the newsletter out a little bit less frequently over the holidays. Thanks for bearing with me as I juggle my workload!
Roman Olive Oil-Poached Artichokes
Karen Bond has always cooked with a lot of olive oil, and because she and Malcolm make their own, they always have plenty of the stuff around. (She also continues to cook regularly with other companies’ oils.) This recipe—one of her favorites—uses olive oil to very gently cook trimmed artichoke hearts until they’re meltingly tender. She first had this dish on a trip to Rome, and she loved it so much that she talked the restaurant's staff into showing her how to make it right there at the table. It can be served warm or cold and is great with some crusty bread.
While Karen makes this dish in a big batch, using eight artichokes, I cut the recipe in half so that I could use less oil (and trim fewer artichokes).
Serves 4–8 as an appetizer
4 artichokes
½ head of garlic
1 bunch parsley, leaves and thin stems only
½ can of olive oil-packed anchovies
kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil (in quantity)
Wash the artichokes and trim them down to their hearts and tender inner leaves (using a method like this one). Peel and chop the garlic and chop the parsley and anchovies.
Put the artichokes in a Dutch oven, then add the garlic, parsley, and anchovies and season everything with salt and pepper. Add enough oil to just cover.
Turn the heat up to medium until it starts to bubble, then lower it and simmer the artichokes until tender, about 3 hours. (Karen cooks her for 4 to 5 hours, but her stove must have a lower flame than mine does.)
More California Recipes to Cook This Fall
If you’re looking for more veg-forward recipes to cook this fall, you’ll want to get your hands on a copy of Nik Sharma’s new book Veg-Table: Recipes, Techniques, and Plant Science for Big-Flavored, Vegetable-Focused Meals. And if you want to try a few of Nik’s gorgeous recipes before you buy, you’re in luck; Goop published three delicious excerpts: Butternut Squash Sauce, Crispy Leeks, and Farfalle; Carrot, Apple, and Harissa Soup; and Baked Eggs with Tadka Greens. I can’t wait to make them all. I’m also looking forward to trying the Diwali twist on fudgy brownies in the SF Chronicle and the creamy pumpkin soup published recently in the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
Photo: Georgia Freedman