Foodie Friday: Best Grilled Artichoke Recipe (With 5-minute Hollandaise)!

Two great things about Spring and Summer: artichokes and grilling. And artichokes + grilling = grilled artichokes, my absolute favorite way to prepare them. The nice thing about this recipe is that you can do it for a crowd, because you do 90% of the work ahead of time, and then just finish them off on the grill when you’re ready to serve. A great make-ahead item for a party! They may not be quick to make, but they are incredibly easy.

Paired with what I like to call my 5-minute hollandaise (which is so simple, just mayo, lemon juice, salt and pepper), these are beyond delicious. The only trick is that the artichokes and the sauce both get better if you allow them to sit – you can do both the artichokes up to 48 hours in advance, but even if you don’t let them marinate, they’re still delicious.

SAUCE:

Ingredients:

• ½ cup mayo
• juice of ½ lemon
• salt, pepper to taste (you can add paprika here, too if you like)

Instructions:

• Mix ingredients together. Cover and put in fridge. That’s literally it. If you like a thicker sauce, add more mayo. Thinner, add more lemon.

ARTICHOKES:

Ingredients:

• Artichokes (as many as you want, but sauce above will give you about four artichokes worth of eating)
• Olive oil (lots and lots)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cut off top of artichokes:

Trim leaf tops off artichokes, like so (easiest with kitchen shears):

Trim artichoke stem, leaving about an inch or 1.5 inches, depending on size of artichoke:

Cut artichokes in half:

Spoon out (or use paring knife) the fuzz and sharpest inside leaves – don’t over-trim these leaves, though, they are tasty once cooked:

Then place halved artichokes, leaf side down, into steamer, and steam. Time on this varies and depends on size of artichokes, but they cook faster than when they’re whole, so you should begin checking them when they’ve been on about 20 minutes. You know they’re done when a fork can penetrate stem easily. You know they’re overdone if you put a fork in the stem and the stem comes off. But fear not – even overdone artichokes can be saved by grilling, and end up (almost) as good!

Next – let them cool so you can touch and then dress with olive oil, salt and pepper. The key thing here is to really get the olive oil between all the leaves. You want it to completely penetrate into every cranny of the artichokes. Sprinkle on salt and pepper to taste. I like to try and get a little salt between the leaves as well.

Let sit for up to 48 hours, or otherwise as long as you can, in the fridge.  When you’re finally ready to serve, drain the olive oil, and pop the artichokes cleaned sides down onto a hot grill. Grill without moving until you have nice dark grill marks but no char. If the round part of the artichokes still feel cool to the touch, you can flip and grill the untrimmed side until they warm.

Serve with sauce and eat! Don’t forget to provide a nice big bowl for all the discarded leaves, and lots of napkins…