Syrian Stuffed Artichoke Hearts with Lamb

Celebrate springtime in the Middle East with these aromatic stuffed artichokes.

Fresh artichokes are all over Middle Eastern markets now. Lovers of the edible thistle enjoy scraping the steamed, seasoned leaves with their teeth and never mind getting melted butter or vinaigrette all over their fingers.

But there are many refined ways of filling artichokes, as we have noted before in our Moroccan stuffed artichoke hearts recipe. And Syrian cooks know just as much about stuffed artichokes as anyone else. In this recipe, the flavors of lamb and allspice enrich their delicate taste.

You may trim the artichokes of all their leaves and stuff the bare hearts, which is the traditional Syrian way, or pack the stuffing into the vegetables with leaves trimmed short and the whispy choke scraped out beforehand. Or buy frozen artichoke hearts and make your life easier.

Syrian Stuffed Artichokes

Ingredients:

1 kg. – 2 lbs artichoke hearts or 10 cleaned and trimmed fresh artichokes

250 grams – 1 lb. ground lamb

1 medium onion

1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups cold chicken stock

1 teaspoon corn starch

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt, and another 1/2 teaspoon

Pepper to taste

Method

Artichokes, one of the first vegetables known to mankind

Preheat the oven to 190° C – 400° F.

Chop the onion and sauté in olive oil over medium heat till golden.

Add the meat, stirring to break up lumps. Cook 5 minutes, stirring once in a while.

Add the allspice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, more pepper if liked, and the parsley.

Stuff the artichokes with the meat mixture. Place them close together in a baking pan.

Blend stock, cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Pour this mixture over the artichokes.

Cover and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the cover (it can be tin foil or baking paper) and bake a further 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

More Middle-Eastern artichoke recipes on Green Prophet:

• Artichoke Dip
• Vegan Chickpea and Artichoke Salad

Editor’s notes: the artichoke is one of the earliest vegetables known to man and it is native to the Eastern Mediterranean. The name comes from ardishok which means “earth thorn” in Arabic. It is called kinress in the Jewish Mishna, a word used in modern Arabic, according to Nature’s Wealth, a book on the healing plants based on the teachings of Rambam, a Jewish sage. According to the Rambam, artichoke can heal urinary stones, and it lowers blood pressure. It can help cardiac pain, depression, and it may be an aphrodisiac. They should be avoided if you have impaired kidneys.

Author: Miriam Kresh

Miriam Kresh is an American ex-pat living in Israel. Her love of Middle Eastern food evolved from close friendships with enthusiastic Moroccan, Tunisian and Turkish home cooks. She owns too many cookbooks and is always planning the next meal. Miriam can be reached at miriam (at) greenprophet (dot) com.