I have once again been graced by the CSA gods to have an abundance of artichokes in my house, which, honestly, is one of my favorite problems to have.  I had a nice pile of 16 artichokes to get through, all that were about fist sized (not quite baby, not quite giant globes).  I decided the best way to prep these was to do a mass baking/steaming, so that I could have artichokes cooked and ready on-hand throughout the week.  I borrowed a technique that I used for my recipe for Perfectly Roasted Parsnips, which worked perfectly for my artichoke meal prep.

This method involves braising the artichokes, which is a fancy way of saying cooking with the presence of moisture and steam.  The braising liquid of choice here was chicken stock, but this can be swapped out for any veggie stocks to make this recipe fully vegan, or even white wine or other flavorful liquids.  I also added some herbs into the braising liquid so that steamy broth would be ultra-flavorful as it steeped into the artichokes.  This method cooked up a full sheet pan of artichokes in a very hands-off way, by allowing the oven to do the work for the hour and a half cook time.  It takes a while, but the results are worth it!

Recipe down below, photos up top and down below!  This recipe makes enough for 16 medium-sized artichokes, which is definitely plenty for meal prep or a crowd.

Oven Braised Artichokes

Ingredients:

• 16 medium sized (about fist sized) artichokes
• 2 large lemons
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 20 stems of thyme
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 1 tsp salt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Fill a very large bowl, pot, or even a very clean sink with cold water.  Cut the lemons and squeeze the juice into the cold water, and add the squeezed lemons into the pot of water.  Lemon juice is key to preventing artichokes from browning before cooking, so please don’t skip this step!
3. Using a serrated knife, remove the very bottom of the stem and cut the artichoke in half, lengthwise.  Place the cleaned and halved artichokes into the cold lemon water while you work through the rest of the artichokes.
4. Add the chicken broth, salt, thyme, and rosemary to the bottom of a sheet pan.  Remove the artichokes from the lemon water and line them up into a single layer, cut side down, on the sheet pan.
5. Drizzle the artichokes with plenty of olive oil.
6. Cover the sheet pan thoroughly and securely with foil to keep the steam in while cooking.  Place in the preheated oven and bake at 375F for 1 hour and 15 minutes. 
7. After that time is up, remove the pan from the oven and check one artichoke for doneness.  If the heart and stem are very tender and the outer leaves remove easily from the heart, the artichokes are done.  If they are still firm, re-apply the foil and continue baking for another 15-20 minutes.
   1. There should still be some chicken broth left in the pan at this point.  If there is not, add another cup of chicken broth to the pan before continuing to cook.
8. Once fully tender, remove the artichokes from the oven and remove the foil completely.  Serve immediately while hot, and refrigerate leftovers for another time.

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