Roasted Stuffed Artichokes

Fill a large bowl with water and add the lemon juice (the bowl should be large enough to hold the artichokes; and don’t fill it so full that you won’t be able to add the artichokes).

Cut each artichoke in half (from tip to stem) and place them in the bowl of lemon water to prevent browning.

Using a cookie scoop, remove the choke (the center white/purple part) from each half leaving all of the the leaves and place the artichoke halves back in the lemon water. Discard the choke.

Combine bread and Parmesan cheese in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until bread is crumbly. Alternately, crumble bread by hand and mix with cheese. Add chopped pepper to the food processor and mix until peppers are chopped fine. If doing by hand, chop peppers finely and combine with bread mixture. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder to bread mixture and pulse just to combine. As you continue pulsing add just enough olive oil to bind it together.

Take a spoonful of filling out and squeeze it in your palm; if it stays together it’s ready.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place artichoke halves in a large baking dish with sides. Spoon filling into the hollow center of each, distributing evenly. Sprinkle a bit more Parmesan cheese on top if desired and drizzle with olive oil.

Place pan in oven and pour water into the dish until it comes half-way up the sides of the artichokes.

Bake uncovered for 60 minutes or until you can easily pierce a fork into the thickest part of the artichoke heart. You might need to loosely cover the pan with foil for the last 10-15 minutes of cooking to prevent too much browning.