Allotment Recipes – Globe Artichokes

There can't be an allotment in the UK that isn't waterlogged. On Sunday we gathered in the allotment office, moaning about wet plots, rust of biblical proportions on both plants and metalwork and the promised gales to come. A couple of novice allotment holders were retying their peas to canes, but the old hands shook their heads 'No point,' they said. 'With an offshore wind here, it'll be worse by nightfall, might as well wait till morning and put things right then.'

I stored up this bit of local horticultural wisdom and headed off home, thinking, when you can't grow, cook!

This is a great recipe that will please both vegetarians and meat eaters – the former will be happy it’s meat free and the latter won’t even notices as the rich flavours will fool them into thinking there’s an animal in there somewhere!

Artichoke Mushroom Richness

Ingredients

Four artichoke hearts
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium finely chopped onion
2 finely chopped cloves garlic
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 teaspoon dried basil – or a good bunch of fresh leaves, torn rather than cut
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon dry white wine – or white martini which gives a richer flavour
1 tablespoon bread crumbs with mixed herbs, 1 teaspoon grated Parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper mixed in

Method

Lightly oil a baking dish, then blanch the artichoke hearts before slicing them in half, draining them and laying them in the bottom of the dish, cut side down.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and add onion and garlic, cook, stirring for 3 minutes then add mushrooms and spices.
Add lemon juice and wine.
Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 – 5 minutes more.
Remove from heat and stir in bread crumbs.
Spoon mushroom mixture evenly over artichokes.
Bake uncovered in a medium oven for 30 minutes.

Labels: allotment-recipes, artichoke-hearts