Stuffed Artichokes with Bread & Tomatoes

Hi guys!

So it's monday and I have a vegan treat for you today. Artichokes are starting to come into season at the moment, so if you're lucky you'll get wonderfully large ones at your grocery store or a local farmer's market. I haven't eaten any artichokes at all until about two years ago, but that's when I have started loving them. They are incredibly versatile. You can use only the bottoms as a vegetable, use the hearts in a pesto or eat all of it. Today's recipe comes from Gwyneth Paltrow's "Notes from my kitchen table". Here's the recipe:

4 artichokes
150ml extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt
freshly ground black pepper
200g (7 oz) day-old bread, cut into 1 cm cubes
450g (15 oz) cherry tomatoes
handful fresh basil leaves
1 lemon

1) Cut the top 2 cm (1 inch) off the artichokes as well as the tough outer leaves and stems and discard. Rub the cut face with lemon juice. Steam the artichokes for 45 minutes. If you don't have a steamer, heat water in a large pot until boiling. Take a sieve, put the artichokes in and hang the sieve above the boiling water. Turn the heat to medium and put a lid on the pot.

2) Meanwhile, quarter the tomatoes. Whisk together 125ml olive oil, red wine vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Fold in the bread cubes. If they're really dry, add a spoonful of warm water. Using your hands, crush in the tomatoes and stir in the basil. Let the bread mixture sit while the artichokes are cooking. 

3) When the artichokes are cooked through, let them sit for 10 or 15 minutes until cool. Using a soup spoon, scoop out the thistly chokes. Squeeze lemon juice over the cavity of each artichoke and stuff with the bread salad. Drizzle over the remaining olive oil. Serve at room temperature.

Active preparation time: 10 minutes
Total preparation time: 1 hour
Serves: 4
© Copyright: Gwyneth Paltrow, "Notes from my kitchen table", p. 206.

Here's how my stuffed artichoke looks:

First of all, let me tell you how much I adore the colour. The intense red of the tomatoes, soft yellow-orange from the olive oil-soaked bread cubes and the green from the artichokes - absolutely beautiful. And the taste lives up to how it looks like. Being vegan (which is supposedly boring according to some of my friends...) this dish really combines so much flavour. A slight acidity from the vinegar and tomatoes while adding sweetness at the same time. The bread and olive oil add richness and creaminess. And the leaves from the artichokes have an almost flesh-like consistency. Combining all these different flavours and textures guarantees a satisfying dish at any time.

Have fun trying!