Make The Cheesy Italian Filling

1. To a bowl, add the cheese, seasonings, garlic, and olive oil. Mix this all together. You want the mixture to be very moist but not dripping oil. Set this aside.

Prepare And Clean The Artichokes

1. With a sharp Chef’s knife, cut off the bottom of the artichokes so it can stand upright without wobbling.
2. If there is a stalk, shave it down, cut off the edge and cut it into chunks (this is edible!)
3. Turn the artichoke on its side and cut off the top of the artichoke (about a 1/3rd) exposing the inside. By doing this you’re making it so you can easily spread open the leaves to stuff.
4. Cut a lemon in half, and rub the cut side all over the newly cut areas of the artichoke. This will help prevent browning.
5. Take a pair of kitchen shears and snip off the thorns from the remaining leaves.

Stuff The Artichokes

1. Place your prepared artichoke in a large, shallow bowl. This will help catch any of the filling mixture that falls out as you stuff each leaf. Yes, you stuff each leaf starting from 1-2 rows from the bottom (you need to leave 1″ of space at the bottom unstuffed) working all the way up to the top, and then working your way in the middle. Pull out a single leaf, grab a bit of filling (like maybe a 1/2 of a teaspoon), and stuff it down into the leaf. Go to the next leaf in the row and repeat until the entire outside is stuffed. Pretty much your artichoke will be almost doubled in size.
2. Next, you want to do the same thing with the inside (top). Start from the outer part of it and work your way inwards. This can be a bit tricky and it’s OK if you skip a couple of places. I personally find it nearly impossible to stuff every part on the top.
3. You may not be able to stuff the very middle (choke) and that’s OK. Just do as I did and take any leftover filling and put it on top pressing down in a back-and-forth motion. This will help push more of the filling into the artichoke.

Steam & Enjoy

1. Just how you stuffed the sides of the artichoke, you want to do the same thing with the inside (top).
2. Start from the outer part of it and work your way inwards. This can be a bit tricky and it’s OK if you skip a couple of places. I personally find it nearly impossible to stuff every part on the top.
3. You may not be able to stuff the very middle (choke) and that’s OK. Just do as I did and take any leftover filling and put it on top pressing down in a back-and-forth motion. This will help push more of the filling into the artichoke.
4. Grab a leave, turn it upside down so the cheesy stuffed part is against your lower teeth, close your mouth around the leaf, and scrape the leaf against your teeth as you pull it out of your mouth. You’re not only getting the filling but also bits of the artichoke flesh.
5. Eat your way around the outside, discarding the leaves as you go.
6. When you get to the middle, you’ll be at the heart of the artichoke (the best part). You’ll want to pull away the choke (that’s the hairs). They are not edible. Use a spoon and scoop it out. At this point, you’re at the heart of the artichoke, and enjoy!