Artichokes in Wine Sauce – Buttery and Tender

Here is a tender, nuanced and delicious presentation of artichokes as a buttery side dish. It’s vegetarian and if you want to make it vegan you can change the ghee to sunflower oil, which imparts that nutty taste! This recipe is an interpretation of a recipe from the book Neue Cuisine by Kurt Gutenbrunner.

You do not need to do what I did: cut, peel and scoop 11 fresh artichokes. I recommend using frozen artichoke bottoms. It will save your hands from the several days of staining that you will pick up after cleaning them without gloves on. 

Artichokes in Wine Sauce

• 11 artichoke bottoms, frozen, canned or fresh
• 1/2 mild onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 leek, quartered and chopped
• 1 carrot, scraped and sliced thinly
• Clarified butter, ghee or sunflower oil
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 lemon, cut in half
• Salt and pepper

If you are using frozen or canned artichoke bottoms, you can skip Steps 1-4 below and go directly to Step 5.

1. Using a serrated-edge knife, remove the end of the artichoke and saw the top of the artichoke off.
2. Artichokes are so beautiful that I will post several pictures as we go this recipe. Remove all of the leaves around the artichoke, turning it in your hand as you go. If you have a nice manicure, wear a pair of latex gloves while handling these.Artichokes in Wine Sauce
3. You will reach a stage of “fur” on the artichoke (see below). Using a paring knife or a spoon, scoop out these soft furry bits. It comes out easily.
4. Run a paring knife around the edge of the choke, removing all green bits and remaining leaves. Remove the bottom stump so that it is flush or even with the rounded bottom of the artichoke heart.
5. Rub the room-temperature artichoke all over with lemon.
6. Heat a medium-sized saute pan with 3 Tbsp of clarified butter/ghee or sunflower oil. Saute the onion and leek until lightly golden. Add the carrots and let them sweat with the onion-leek mixture for several minutes.
7. Add the wine and let cook for 1 minute. Adjust seasoning. Add the vegetable/chicken stock to the pan and lay the artichokes over the top of the vegetable mixture, like this:
8. Cover tightly and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Serve with sauce.

Enjoy! I hope you liked today’s post…it’s vegetarian! Use sunflower oil and it’s vegan.

Thanks for reading.

Cooky

Here’s a starter for your holiday meal: Cauliflower and Cumin Fritters with Lime Yogurt