Fried Citrus & Herb Artichoke Hearts

December 9, 2012

I am a huge fan of artichoke hearts. I buy them in the jar in a marinade. I add them to salads and snack on them solo, while standing in my kitchen all alone because I am weird like that.

I have never ever made anything with or even handled a real fresh artichoke. I remember back in high school. I was a sophomore and, in our English class, we had to do a “how to” speech. I demonstrated how to make strawberry pretzel Jell-O. It was a huge hit.

There were these two 100% Italian boys in my class who demonstrated how to clean and prepare an artichoke. So, when I was doing my weekly grocery shopping and saw artichoke hearts, I thought, well, if these high school boys could do it, so could I!

My experience of peeling off a majority of the leaves to get to the heart was a bit prickly, but easy. Then you have to scrape out the hairy choke part—ok, easy.

Then heat the oil, give them a quick fry, and then toss with citrus zest and herbs. So easy! It is like a bite size bloomin’ onion, except not breaded and, well, not an onion. Don’t be scurred of the artichoke! They may be a bit prickly, but besides that, I say they are so easy to work with.

This would definitely be a show stopping holiday appetizer.

Fried Citrus & Herb Artichoke Hearts

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 4 - 6
Author Sarcastic Cooking

Ingredients

  • 4 Large Artichokes
  • 1/2 Lemon
  • Vegetable Oil for frying
  • 2 Tablespoons Minced Flat-Leaf Parsley
  • 1 Teaspoon Finely Grated Lemon Zest
  • 1 Teaspoon Finely Grated Orange Zest
  • ½ Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
  • 1 Teaspoon Sea Salt

Instructions

  1. Working with 1 artichoke at a time, using a serrated knife or just pulling them off by hand, trim off all but 2 inches of the leaves. Pull off and discard the dark green outer leaves, then peel and trim the bottom and the stem. Quarter the artichoke and scrape out the hairy choke. Rub the artichoke quarters all over with the lemon half, squeeze the extra lemon juice into a small bowl of water and add the quartered artichoke to the lemon water. Repeat with the remaining artichokes.
  2. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add the artichoke heart quarters to the boiling water. Blanch them for about three minutes. Remove hearts and pat dry.
  3. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 inch of oil to 350°. Fry the artichokes until crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
  4. In a large bowl, toss the artichokes together with the parsley, zests, red pepper, and salt. Serve right away.

Recipe adapted from Food & Wine.

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  • kb
    May 8, 2013 at 9:07 am

    I love artichokes… Never tried frying before! This just sounds too good to pass.

  • Amber @ Slim Pickin's Kitchen
    December 11, 2012 at 12:13 pm

    I’m not a giant fan of artichoke hearts, but maybe because the only way I’ve experienced them is from a jar. I’ve never had them fresh before, and this looks like an easy recipe to try out!

  • Stephie @ Eat Your Heart Out
    December 10, 2012 at 8:30 pm

    These look like…shoot I can’t come up with what they look like. But they look cool. (Ugh, my brain.)

    Yeah. I’m scurred of the whole artichoke. I’ll admit it. ACK!

    • Stefanie
      December 10, 2012 at 10:03 pm

      Don’t be scurred! Besides the few pokes and scratches I got, it was a breeze! I bet they would bake up nicely too!

  • Mandie @ Oh So Decadent
    December 10, 2012 at 10:13 am

    These look delicious! As like you, I’ve never used a fresh artichoke, just the canned stuff, which I love. I’m so glad that they were manageable and didn’t give you a rough time!

    • Stefanie
      December 10, 2012 at 10:03 pm

      You can totally handle these babies!

  • Julia Marks
    December 9, 2012 at 8:50 pm

    Sounds absolutely wonderful.

    • Stefanie
      December 10, 2012 at 10:04 pm

      Thanks Julia!