Artichokes have a mild earthy taste and intriguing texture that pairs well with meat, cheese and crispy vegetables. They are a common occurrence on anitpasti tasting plates and pizza.

My preferred method of preparing and preserving artichokes is to steam them and then drowning them in white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.

Steaming the artichokes

I take each artichoke, they are beautiful to look at aren’t they,  remove the stem and chop the top off.

I then steam them with water that has a good slug of lemon juice in it for 30 – 40 minutes. The outer leaves should pull off easily at this stage. Prolong the process if not. 

Looking good:

I then remove the outer leaves one by one until I get to the soft tender heart. 

The inner heart, is then sliced cross-wise.

Pickling and storing the artichokes

You can serve them now or pickle the hearts in a vinegar solution.

Sanitise a glass jar and lid by submersing them in boiling water.  Layer the artichoke heart slices in the jar along with some black peppercorns.

Fill the jar with your favourite vinegar. Use slices of onions if need be to bulk up the jar and to keep the artichokes down in the vinegar solution.

They will last several months in the fridge but use your best judgement.

Enjoy,

PK

Here are some more posts about preserving food and antipasti: