Shrimp Stuffed Artichokes

Stuffed Artichokes and artichokes in general are Chef Brian’s sister Tammy’s favorite and was a staple dish made by their mom and grandma throughout their childhood. Stuffed artichokes was the one vegetable she would actually eat without any push back until she was well into her teens.
Artichokes are somewhere between cooked asparagus, cardoon, and cooked celery. Most people just don’t have the patience to prepare them but for those who do have been enjoying artichokes in all kinds of preparations.
To prepare an artichoke for stuffing, you start by setting up a bowl of water with a bit of lemon in it. When you trim an artichoke, it will immediately start to discolor, this acidic water will prevent that from taking place.
Now that you have your acidic water in place, trim the stem of your artichoke almost all of the way down. When stuffing an artichoke, you need to cut the stem a bit farther down than usual so that it can stand on its own.
Hold the artichoke firmly and pull off the tough outer leaves from the base. Keep removing leaves until you reach the tender, pale yellow-green ones. Using a sharp knife, cut about an inch off the top of the artichoke to remove the thorny tips of the leaves. Use kitchen scissors to trim the thorny tips of the remaining leaves. This step makes the artichoke more user-friendly. Remove some of the interior leaves to make room for the stuffing then place the entire artichoke in the acidulated water.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt to season the water which will, in turn, season the artichokes while they are cooking. Place the artichokes in the boiling water and boil for ten minutes before removing from the water and setting aside before preparing the shrimp and stuffing.
In a sauté pan, over medium heat, add olive oil and shrimp to the pan. Season the shrimp with salt. Sear the shrimp on one side and then flip. Once the shrimp is flipped, add butter, garlic, pepper flake, and parsley. Heat until the shrimp is cooked through then remove the pan from the heat and add parmesan. Place the shrimp mixture in a bowl and set aside while preparing the breadcrumbs.
In the same sauté pan that just had the shrimp in it, melt butter in oil then add breadcrumbs, garlic, and thyme. Brown the breadcrumbs slightly then add parsley and parmesan to the pan. Remove the pan from the heat.
Place the artichokes on a baking pan, make sure they are spaced out. Evenly distribute the shrimp mixture into the center of each artichoke. Top each shrimp stuffed artichoke with the breadcrumb mixture.
Set your oven to broil or 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once the oven is up to temp, bake/broil your Shrimp Stuffed Artichokes for 10-15 minutes of until they are golden brown on top.
Remove from the oven and let rest for ten minutes before serving with a lemon or squeezing a bit of lemon over each stuffed artichoke.
Enjoy your Shrimp Stuffed Artichokes! Let’s see if this will help convert a veggie hater into a veggie lover!