Roasted Baby Artichokes with Lemon Brown Butter and Parmesan

As a kid, my mum used to make regularly boiled artichokes. We would dip the leaves into a home-made vinaigrette. A typical easy dinner in France. Recently I came across baby artichokes. They were a bit  too tiny to eat the bottom of the leaves but therefore they were more tender. I went on Pinterest (of course!) and came across this very tasty and simple recipe.

Kris and I loved it because it can be served as a snack. Perfect for parties if you’d like to serve something original. We can also highly recommend it for your lunch break the next day!

What you’ll need:

1 lb baby artichokes (In my case 4 artichokes)
1 lemon, zest and whole lemon separated
1/4 lb (114g) unsalted butter (I ended up having a lot. I believe that I’ll use about half the amount next time)
good pinch of salt
3/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 c grated parmesan

1. First, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

2.  Then you’ll have to prepare the butter: In a small saucepan, combine the butter and lemon zest. Heat on medium-low. Once it starts to bubble, stir frequently until the butter browns. Remove from heat to cool.

3. In order to clean the artichokes you’ll first have to prepare a bowl of water. Halve the zested lemon. Squeeze its juice into the bowl along with the lemon halves.

4. Using a parting knife, remove the tough outer leaves until you reach the soft yellow leaves.

5.Using a serrated or bread knife, cut off the top third of each artichoke, and about a 1/4″ from the bottom of each stem.

6. Cut the artichokes in half lengthwise.

7. Toss cleaned artichokes into the bowl of water as you work to keep them from oxidizing i.e. turning a hideous brown.

8. Once done cleaning the artichokes, arrange them, insides facing up, on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a pastry brush, give each choke a good soaking of the brown butter. Or if you don’t have a pastry brush handy, just drag the chokes through the brown butter in the pan. Sprinkle each choke with salt.

Combine black pepper and grated parmesan. Put approximately 1 tbsp of parmesan on each one.

9. Bake the artichokes for 25-30 minutes until tender and the topping is golden brown.

10. Now, you will end up with some extra brown butter. I like to give them good sprinkling of more lemon brown butter once out of the oven.

Enjoy this original snack. It is really fun to experiment with ‘forgotten’ veggies. Often they are really simple to prepare and so delicious!

Nathalie