Artichoke bottoms stuffed with beef, rice and spices and stewed in a rich tomato sauce until perfectly tender.
Moroccan Beef Stuffed Artichokes
Servings
6 Servings
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon white rice
- 6 large artichoke bottoms uncooked
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ⅓ cup minced onion
- ¼ pound ground beef about ½ cup
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1½ tablespoon dried cilantro
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 cup tomato paste
- 2 cup water
- 3 garlic cloves sliced
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
Instructions
- Bring one cup of water with salt to a boil in a small saucepan.
- Add the rice and leave to boil for 10 minutes.
- Rinse with cold water ad drain well. Set aside.
- Make sure the artichoke bottoms are cleaned out, remove chokes and all leaves from center. Set aside in bowl of water with a splash of lemon juice.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring so they dont burn. Add the ground beef slowly, stirring to break up the meat. Let cook for another 4 minutes or so until the meat has changed color.
- While the meat and onion mixture is cooking, prepare the spice mix. Combine the minced garlic, cumin, cilantro, ginger, cinnamon, paprika, salt and pepper.
- When the meat is cooked, remove from heat, add the rice and spice mixture. Mix very well.
- In a large saucepan heat the remaining tablespoon oil and lightly saute the sliced garlic, seasoning with turmeric, salt and pepper. When the garlic starts to soften add in the tomato paste and water. Bring to a boil.
- When the sauce is ready, spoon stuffing mix into artichokes, pressing to fill so the stuffing stays in. Slide the artichokes, one at a time into the sauce so they are face up and all are submerged under the sauce.
- Sprinkle remaining stuffing into the sauce.
- Cover and let the artichokes simmer. I like to leave them for a long time so the artichokes are nice and soft, up to 2 hours.
- Serve hot with sauce. Garnich with Cilantro springs, optional.
- TIP: this recipe is easily made for a crowd, just multiply as needed
I made a recipe similar to this in the past, but the artichokes were not as soft as I wanted and the meat was overcooked. This time I pre-cooked the artichokes in water with granulated garlic, bay leaves, lots of lemon juice and salt. They were perfect. I cooled the chokes, stuffed them with the meat/rice and cooked them in the sauce for 20 min. Really delicious and the meat was super moist. BTW, I used a meat combo of lamb and beef.
Ahuva,
Good luck with your catering company – I like the name. This recipe looks really interesting.
Best regards from your Bubby’s neighbor from the 2nd floor. I’m sure she is really proud of you.
Debbie K.