Braised artichoke and potato

Artichokes are one of my favourite vegetables. You can boil, grill, braise, stuff and bake them!

My favourite way to cook artichokes, and the easiest way, is to braise them with plenty of sliced garlic, herbs, such as thyme, marjoram and parsley in a bit of water and plenty of good olive oil.

I’ve also added a few chunks of waxy potatoes which are delicious with artichoke and quite Italian.

Directions

Prepare the artichoke stem: Pull any leaves off the stem, and use a vegetable peeler to peel off the stem's woody exterior. Use a sharp knife to trim off the end of the stem. Rub the stem all over with half a lemon to prevent browning.

Prepare the artichoke bud: Cut off the top quarter off the artichoke, about 2cm. Rub the cut leaves all over with the lemon. Use kitchen shears to snip off the pointy tips of the remaining leaves and cut each artichoke in half lengthways.

Place the artichoke and potatoes in a wide pan which has a lid. Add the garlic, herbs, 500ml water and about 200ml olive oil and bring to a quick boil.

Add 3 tablespoons of white vinegar and season with plenty of salt and a good grind of black pepper before popping on the lid and simmering on a low heat for 25 minutes or until both the artichoke and potatoes are cooked through. Uncover the pan and keep cooking the vegetables on a medium heat for 10-15 minutes. You want to make sure you’re left with only a small amount of sauce at the bottom of the pan.

Allow the vegetables to cool down for 10 minutes before removing the herbs and discarding them. Arrange the vegetables in a serving place and drizzle with the sauce. You can garnish with some roughly chopped parsley.