Stuffed Artichokes

In a very large bowl, mix together breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley, celery, garlic, salt and pepper, set aside.

Trim and clean artichokes.

Tear 4 pieces of foil, about 3″ wide. Fold foil into a square and form a small cup around bottom-half of artichoke. Make four of these and set aside.

Place an artichoke in the bowl of stuffing, and using your hands, gently spread the outer leaves to stuff each leaf with stuffing. I use my fingers to scoop and stuff. Turn the artichoke as you stuff the leaves, going around until you reach the trimmed top of the artichoke.

Place one of the foil cups around the bottom half of the artichoke. Place stuffed artichokes into a large Dutch oven. Mix the 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the 2 cups of water; carefully pour into the Dutch oven – don’t pour on top of the artichokes – you may need more water, depending on the size of your Dutch oven, add more until water is 1″ deep.

Slowly pour 1 tablespoon of remaining 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil onto each artichoke, once the first tablespoon is absorbed, pour another tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil on each artichoke, for a total of 2 tablespoons on each.

On your stovetop, heat your Dutch oven and bring water to a boil then lower to a simmer. Cook artichokes, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove from heat, and pour another 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over each artichoke, using same procedure as previously described. If the water seems low, add more water and return to stove, cooking another 30 minutes or until an inner leaf can be pulled out easily. Remove from stove.

Allow to cool until you can touch them without burning your fingers and then place them in a large serving platter for everyone to help themselves. Enjoy!