Artichokes, many folks have a love/hate relationship with this flower. It is spiky, tough, and delicious at the same time. The last time we tried steaming artichokes this size on the stove top took over 90 minutes, and they never made a showing at dinner. So, how do you hack this for the perfect ‘choke every time? Enter the Instant Pot.
Start preparation by rinsing thoroughly, and with a large sharp knife, trim the stem at the base of the flower. You want to expose the heart, and this accomplishes that task.
Next up, using the same sharp knife, you want to cut about 30-40% off the top of the petals. This helps create an easy way to pull the petals from the heart once they are steamed entirely.
Using the grate that comes with the cooker, add about a cup of water. You want the level to be below the top of the grate, and we usually eyeball this. Put the artichokes in stem down. We like to cut open a fresh lemon and drizzle one half over the top of each artichoke, then toss the halves in as well.
Set the Instant Pot to manual cook, 19 minutes. This allows a fast release of pressure to be used, and they are ready to eat. However, the slow release method can be used to keep them piping hot if you prepare them a bit ahead of service.
There are any number of dipping sauces, and our favorite is light mayo and soy sauce, about 5 parts mayo to 1 part soy. Liquid aminos are a good option too, as well as melted butter.
Served. Tonight it was rib eye end cap with farfalle tossed with butter and pepper, topped with shredded Parmesan.
To eat, you peel a petal off the heart, dip in your favorite sauce, and gently scrap the flesh from the petal with your teeth. About 1/3 of the way in, the petals will start to get soft and come off with the flesh. This is time to call it, and go for the heart!
One of the better ways we have found is to simply grasp the entire head of petals, squeeze, and pull.
What comes next is the “hair” of the flower. This is very fibrous, and completely inedible. A steak knife can make quick work separating this from the heart.
Here you can see the heart under the hair. Almost ready!
Not the most photogenic heart, but this is the meat that is worth all of the effort. We hope you try to tackle artichokes at home some time.