To me globe artichokes are the lobster of the vegetable world, unless you grow your own they’re incredibly expensive to buy in this country, these I bought in Waitrose at £2 each, which is why I only bought three. I saw these globes last weekend and knew I wouldn’t have another chance to cook with them until next year. When I trained as a florist we use to use baby-size artichokes as part of flower arrangements, they’re very pretty to look at.
I’ve been wanting to make this Greek based recipe for a long time, I had first seen it on a Rick Stein’s programme Mediterranean Escapes, youtube clip of it here, the globes are cooked simply with dill and parsley and any green vegetables added, peas, broad beans, baby leeks.
I would’ve liked to have young artichokes to cook as the Greek lady in the programme did but beggars can’t be choosers. Since I only had 3 artichokes I decided to add some very small new potatoes to the dish to make it a substantial all-in-one vegetable dish to serve with the grilled fish I was cooking.
How to make globe artichokes with dill
Slice the spring onions.
Add them to a small pan with extra virgin olive oil.
Cover and soften the onions for 5 minutes on low heat.
Cut the artichokes into quarters and add to the pan with the potatoes.
Add the dill, depending how strong you want the dill taste, add between 1/2 tablespoon to 1 1/2 tablespoon of dill, its flavour will dampen down considerably by the end of the dish.
Add the stalk-end of the parsley.
Add the chopped garlic.
And salt and freshly ground black pepper
And a cup of water.
Bring the water up to the boil and then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
The artichokes and potatoes should be nearly ready.
When poking them with a fork they should feel soft.
Add the frozen peas.
Cook for another 5-7 minutes until the peas are done. If there’s too much liquid left you can thicken with cornflour and lemon juice.
Sprinkle with the remainder chopped parsley and serve.
Greek Style Globe Artichokes with Dill
You can replace the potatoes with young leeks, and/or green beans, could also add some broad beans along with the peas.
- 3 globe artichokes, see my post on how to prepare them here
- 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 3 large spring onions or 6 small ones sliced (scallions / salad onions)
- 500g / 1 lb new potatoes cut into small size cubes
- 1-1.5 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh dill
- small handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, stalk end chopped finely, leaf end reserved for the end
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1 cup/mug of water, you’ll need half of this amount if not using potatoes
- 1 cup/mug frozen peas
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, may need more if using potatoes
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lemon, half for preparing the artichokes, other half for sauce
- 1 generous teaspoon cornflour, may not be needed.
Soften the spring onions with the olive oil in a small pot for 5 minutes, cover the pan. Add the rest of the ingredients apart from the reserved parsley and frozen peas, and simmer for 15 minutes covered. About 5 minutes into the simmering check the seasoning see it needs more salt.
After 15 minutes check the artichokes and potatoes are beginning to soften, when putting a fork through them it should go through quite easily. Add the peas and cook for another 5-7 minutes until the peas are ready. If you have plenty of water left in the pan leave it uncovered to reduce it.
When the dish is ready if there’s too much liquid left you can thicken with mixing the cornflour and 1 tablespoon lemon juice until cornflour is lump-free, add it to the pan bring it to simmer for few seconds for sauce to thicken. If the dish doesn’t need thickening add half tablespoon of lemon juice and the reserved parsley and stir in well before serving.
