- Have a large bowl of water to one side, add the lemon halves and squeeze a bit of juice in the water. Leave the lemon halves in the water.
- To clean the artichokes, remove the stem and sides with a sharp knife, then cut off most of the head with the leaves. See this video for how to cut the disc clean; I however tend to leave more of the leaves, then clean out the choke with a spoon so that the base becomes a saucer. Make sure you rub the artichoke bases well with a lemon half and then drop them in the water. Repeat with all the artichokes. If you have any stems, keep the 5 or so centimetres closest to the artichoke and then peel the tough outer skin, rub the cut part of the stem with lemon and pop those in the bowl of water as well.
- Heat a frypan that will comfortably fit all the artichokes bases (and stems if you have any) on medium heat with a good splash of EVOO, then drop in the whole bruised garlic clove.
- When the garlic becomes fragrant, pop the bases (and stems if you have any) into the pan.
- Pan fry at medium heat until the artichokes warm through, then turn the heat up and add the white wine. Allow the wine to evaporate, then lower the heat, cover and cook, turning the bases (and stems) over halfway, for about 20 minutes (depending on size), adding salt and pepper to taste.
- Your pan-fried artichoke bases are ready when fork-tender and there should be quite a few pan juices left. Discard the garlic. Serve warm, scattered with chopped parsley leaves.
- Serve your pan-fried artichoke bases with soft white polenta if you like.
For more recipes by Paola from Italy on my Mind, click here.
