Benny’s Bites: Grilled Artichokes

Benny Castro is the executive chef and owner of Basque Tapas Bar in Piermont, New York.

Alcachofas A La Parilla

(Grilled Artichokes)

1. Wash artichokes under cold water. Skim off or cut any thorny leaf tips and cut off the stem area.
2. Cut artichokes in half and remove the center fuzz choke area. Keep lemon halves handy and squeeze lemon juice over your cut artichokes—this will prevent oxidation.
3. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add salt, lemon juice and the squeezed lemon skins. Once your water is boiling, add your artichokes and let them boil for 20-30 mins. If your artichokes are larger, 30 minutes should do.
4. After boiling, remove artichokes and place in a large bowl.
5. Marinate the artichokes by adding salt, black pepper, a few sprinkles of paprika, white wine, chopped garlic, a few lemon juice squeezes and lots of olive oil (this is key). Stir everything together well—make sure the marinate coats the artichokes, especially the inner open area.
6. In a deep baking pan place your artichokes and marinate all together.Cover the pan and place in oven at about 350° for 20 minutes.
7. After your artichokes are removed from the oven you have two options—place them in your refrigerator covered for later use or grill them immediately.
8. Bring your grill to medium heat and place your artichokes open side up first. After a minute or two place open side down. One thing I like to do is keep basting them with olive oil while grilling and sprinkle more salt over them at the same time. As I said earlier, olive oil is the key here. After you see a nice char to the artichokes you should be all set to serve and eat. Enjoy.