Artichokes stuffed with chicken meatballs. When I was a child, all kinds of vegetables were not available throughout the year, so in the artichoke season my grandmother prepared this recipe that we liked so much at home and we still like it. The mixture of flavors is delicious and in addition to a very light and healthy meal; Surely everyone will like them in your home too.
Ingredients for 4 people:
8 Large artichokes
500 g Minced chicken
Parsley
1 Bay leaf
1 Onion
Serrano ham, finely chopped
Garlic
1 Egg
A little milk
Breadcrumbs
Common wheat flour
A few strands of saffron
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
Preparation Artichokes stuffed with chicken meatballs:
1. Prepare the stuffed artichoke dough by crushing it in the mortar until the garlic and parsley are reduced to a paste along with a little salt. In a large container we put the minced chicken meat, add the garlic and parsley mash and also add ground pepper to taste, in the same mortar that we have mashed the garlic and parsley we put an egg and beat it lightly.
2. Add to the meat and mix very well, we also add a little milk and breadcrumbs enough so that it is full-bodied, but not too hard the dough, after we have kneaded the meat very well we cover it with plastic wrap and we let it rest in the fridge until we are going to use it.
Cleaning the artichokes:
3. We clean the artichokes by removing the trunks, (the trunks are also cleaned leaving only the tender center and we put them next to the artichokes), we remove the hard leaves from the outside, we cut the hardest part of the leaves leaving only the tender heart, With a teaspoon we remove the hairs that it has in the center leaving a cavity in which we later put the meatball, then we leave them submerged in water with lemon juice so that they do not turn dark.
4. Chop the onion and garlic very often, then in a glass with warm water we put the saffron threads to infuse, we remove the artichokes from the water with lemon and dry them with kitchen paper.
5. With our hands moistened with cold water, we take a portion of the meatball dough, then we fill the cavity of the artichokes, we take another portion of the dough and we place it on top of the artichokes forming a meatball, once all the stuffed artichokes we pass them for flour, (but only the meat) and we reserve them for a moment. (If we have meatball dough left after filling all the artichokes, we make meatballs and add them to the stew).
Stew of Artichokes stuffed with chicken meatballs:
6. We put a pot on the fire with a little oil, when it is hot we fry the artichokes until they are golden, turning often so that they are fried all over, then we remove them to a plate. In the same oil that remains in the pot, add the minced garlic and fry for a few seconds, then add the chopped onion, the bay leaf, the artichoke trunks, salt and pepper to taste, fry for about 7 minutes, add the ham Chopped, mix well and fry for a minute.
7. Place the artichokes in the pot, pour the saffron infusion and more cold water until the artichokes are covered, cover the pot and let it cook at medium temperature for 40 minutes, we will know that they are well done when we pierce the artichoke and notice that it is tender , we rectify the salt at the end and ready to enjoy these delicious stuffed artichokes. Try it you will love it !!
Artichokes stuffed with chicken meatballs. Very delicious!