Skillet Artichokes with Packed Romesco
Seared artichoke halves in a cast iron pan, with a red pepper and almond sauce mixed from a jar and a bag.
- calories
- 330
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 37
- protein
- 6 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 25 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 60 min
- water
- 500 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Dairy free
- Gluten free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Large artichokes | 4 | trimmed and halved at home, tossed in lemon juice |
|---|---|---|
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | for the pan |
| Olive oil | 1/2 cup | for the sauce |
| Jarred roasted red peppers | 1/2 cup | drained, torn into pieces |
| Sun-dried tomatoes | 1/3 cup | oil-packed, in place of fresh |
| Toasted almonds | 1/4 cup | chopped fine at home |
| Sherry vinegar | 2 tbsp | |
| Sweet paprika | 1 tsp | |
| Cayenne | 1/4 tsp | |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste |
Method
- Set the skillet over the fire or a grate with 2 tbsp of oil. Lay the artichoke halves cut side down.
- Sear five to eight minutes, until the cut faces are dark. Pull them out.
- Pour about 500 ml of water into the skillet, return the artichokes cut side up, cover, and steam 25 to 30 minutes. Add water if the pan runs dry. They are done when a leaf pulls out clean.
- While they steam, make the sauce in a bowl or a wide-mouth jar: peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, almonds, vinegar, paprika, cayenne, salt, pepper.
- Mash it with a spoon or the back of a fork until it is a coarse paste, then work in the 1/2 cup of oil a little at a time.
- Spoon sauce into the hollow of each half. Pull the leaves and scrape them through it.
The original of this is a food processor recipe: whole raw artichokes, fresh tomatoes, a blender full of sauce. Neither of those travels. Fresh tomatoes turn to mush in a cooler and there is no processor in camp, so the tomatoes here are oil-packed sun-dried and the sauce is mashed by hand into a coarse paste instead of an emulsion. It sits looser than the blended version. It also holds better in a jar.
The artichokes need both dry heat and wet heat. The sear builds the flavor the sauce hangs on, and the covered steam is what actually cooks them through, since a whole artichoke needs half an hour no matter how hot the pan is. Trim them at home. Doing it on a picnic table with a pocket knife adds twenty minutes and a lot of waste.
Packing
Trim and halve the artichokes at home, acidulate them, and pack them in a bag in the cooler. Mix every dry sauce ingredient in one jar; the oil and vinegar ride in bottles.
Variations
- A stick blender off the car inverter gets the sauce properly smooth.
- Swap almonds for sunflower seeds if someone in camp cannot have nuts.
- Canned artichoke hearts, drained and patted dry, sear in five minutes and skip the steam entirely.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/pan-griddle-artichokes-with-fresh-romesco-sauce