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1
Prepare the artichoke hearts
10 minutes
Room temperature (20°C / 68°F)
Thaw frozen artichoke hearts fully and pat them dry with a clean cloth. If you are starting from fresh artichokes, trim off the stems and tough outer leaves, cut the tops flat, and scoop out the fuzzy choke with a spoon, leaving the cup intact. Rub the cut surfaces with a little of the lemon juice so they stay pale.
Work with one heart at a time and keep the trimmed hearts in lemon water until you need them, so they do not brown.
Done when: Hearts are clean cups with no fuzzy choke left inside, and the cut faces are still pale.
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2
Mix the pea and carrot filling
5 minutes
Room temperature (20°C / 68°F)
Put the peas, diced carrots and slivered onion in a bowl with a pinch of salt and a grind of black pepper. Toss gently so the onion threads separate and everything is evenly mixed. Set the bowl aside — the filling cooks in the pan, not in the bowl.
Taste a pea and a piece of carrot now: they should taste fresh and sweet, because the braise will only soften them, not add sweetness.
Done when: Filling is evenly mixed, with peas, carrot cubes and onion slivers in every spoonful.
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3
Braise the hearts in olive oil and lemon
25 minutes
Gentle simmer, about 95°C (200°F)
Pour 30 ml of the olive oil, the lemon juice, the water and the salt into a wide pan and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Set the artichoke hearts in the pan cup-side up in a single layer, spoon a little of the liquid over each one, cover with a lid and simmer gently for about 25 minutes, until a knife slides easily into the thickest part of a heart and the hearts have taken on the lemony oil.
Keep the simmer gentle, not rolling: a hard boil will break the hearts apart before they are tender.
Done when: A knife slides into the base of a heart with no resistance, and the hearts look glossy from the oil.
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4
Warm the filling in garlic oil
5 minutes
Medium heat, about 160°C (320°F)
While the hearts finish, warm the remaining 30 ml of olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and stir for about 30 seconds until it smells fragrant but is still pale — do not let it brown. Add the pea, carrot and onion filling and stir for 2 to 3 minutes until the peas are bright green and the carrots are just tender, then take the pan off the heat.
Pull the garlic off the heat the moment it turns fragrant; browned garlic turns bitter and would spoil the delicate lemon flavour.
Done when: Peas are bright green, carrots are tender but still hold their shape, and the filling smells of garlic and lemon.
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5
Fill the cups and rest to room temperature
5 minutes active, then about 30 minutes resting
Room temperature (20°C / 68°F)
Lift the braised hearts out of the pan with a slotted spoon and set them on a serving plate. Spoon the warm pea and carrot filling generously into each cup, letting a little spill over the edges, and drizzle a spoonful of the pan juices over the top. Leave the plate to cool until the hearts reach room temperature, about 30 minutes — this is a mezze, and it is meant to be eaten cool, not hot.
Fill the cups while the hearts are still warm so the filling settles into the cups; the flavours marry as the dish cools.
Done when: Each cup is heaped with filling, the plate is glossy with pan juices, and the dish feels neither warm nor cold to the touch.
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6
Garnish and serve with lemon wedges
2 minutes
Room temperature (20°C / 68°F)
Scatter the chopped parsley over the filled hearts and tuck the lemon wedges around the edge of the plate. Serve at room temperature as part of a mezze spread, with flatbread for scooping up any filling that escapes the cups.
Squeeze a lemon wedge over your own portion at the table — the fresh juice brightens the oil just before eating.
Done when: The plate looks like the photo: green peas and orange carrots heaped in pale artichoke cups, glossy with oil, lemon wedges at the side.
auto_awesome Finishing Touches & Plating
Arrange the filled hearts in a single layer on a flat plate, drizzle over the last of the pan juices so they glisten, and serve at room temperature with lemon wedges and warm flatbread. The dish is at its best after its half-hour rest, when the lemon and olive oil have settled into the hearts.
Lebanon
25m
