Roasted Artichoke Recipe

There simply is no other food that tastes like artichoke - well not that I've come across. This Roasted Artichoke Recipe requires minimal effort for maximum taste. Eating an artichoke is an event to be enjoyed: each petal is eaten separately and then you reach the heart; the best part! The cool thing about artichoke is they contain a compound that makes everything else taste sweet.

Lebanese Lentil Soup is a staple soup in my family - it features several times in my menu over the cooler months.

It's comforting and nutritious, just like Molokhia - another ultimate comforting Lebanese dish.

This soup is called 'shorbet adas' (or shorbat adas) in Arabic, and it's one of my top two favourite soups - I always want to lick the bowl dry afterwards.

Shorbet Adas which literally translates to 'Soup Lentil' has so many things going for it.

I have been making this Lebanese soup since my 20's, originally it wasn’t a vegan soup, however now that I have switched it over, the difference is negligible.

Before we get into it, I want to mention another Arabic lentil soup recipe called Lebanese lemon lentil soup. It's completely different, it has chunky bits of vegetables and uses brown lentils instead of orange lentils. It’s worth checking out and adding this soup to your list.

How to roast artichoke hearts and halves?

1. Preheat oven to 356 degrees F (180 degrees C)
2. Cut off stems of each artichoke, leaving about 2-3cm
3. Peel remaining stem
4. Pick off unwanted petals near the stem: look for petals that are not fleshy and or are wilted
5. Wash each artichoke thoroughly under running water, get under the outer petals to clean away any debris within each petal
6. Cut each artichoke in half
7. Place artichokes on a foil lined baking tray (face up)
8. Brush each artichoke with olive oil
9. Season each artichoke
10. Roast artichokes in the oven for 25-40min

Roasted Artichoke Tips

How to tell when they are cooked? Pierce the artichoke heart with a fork and if the fork is able to pierce right through it is cooked. Or another technique, is if you are easily able to pull a petal off with no effort

Roast artichokes face up to maintain the chlorophyll, if you place them face down, the chlorophyll will weep out

Here's a quick video on how to prepare artichokes for roasting

How to eat artichoke

Artichoke is perfect to be served as an entree/appetizer

Each petal should be eaten separately; do this by inserting each petal into your mouth base first, and scrap the flesh with your teeth

Once all petals are consumed, you will reach the choke (the hairy part), this is within the heart, scrap the choke out. Consume the heart

Want another roasting recipe? Check out our crunchy oven roasted cumin chickpeas recipe