Yield: 5 artichokes
5 medium-size artichokes
Lightly salted water, for cooking
Ice water bath
Boiling water, for steaming
2½ cups homemade vegetable broth (see note)
2 cups couscous
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
1½ tablespoons minced fresh garlic
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1 cup grated Parmesan
To taste, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
To finish
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¼ cup grated Parmesan
2 ½ tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Note: Trattoria Marcella makes large batches of vegetable broth with carrot, onion, celery, mushroom and tomato.
1. Cook the artichokes. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. For each artichoke, pull away loose leaves near the stem; with a knife, cut off stem (so artichoke can sit upright) and top quarter of artichoke; use scissors to snip off thorns from leaves. Place artichokes in boiling water, cover with a heat-proof plate to keep artichokes fully submerged. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes; to test for doneness, use tongs to lift up an artichoke by an outer leaf, if the leaf easily pulls out, it’s done; test separately for doneness since the cooking times will vary. Immediately submerge artichokes in an ice water bath to stop the cooking, then drain well.
2. Make couscous. Bring vegetable broth to a boil, pour over couscous in a large bowl. Cover with a plate and let rest for 10 minutes. Use a fork to separate and loosen the couscous. With your hands, work 1 cup butter into hot couscous, then stir in parsley, pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice, basil, oregano and Parmesan. Taste, then season with salt and pepper. Can be made ahead; makes enough for about 5 artichokes.
3. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
4. Stuff the artichokes. Squeeze each artichoke to press out excess water. With your fingers, pull out and discard the interior center leaves, exposing the prickly choke; use a spoon to scrape out then discard the choke. Working from the outside in, one by one gently pull leaves away from the core without tearing off, use your fingers to stuff couscous into each leaf. Once leaves are stuffed, fill center cavity with couscous. Gently smooth the top.
5. Steam the artichokes. Fill a deep, oven-safe pan with ½-inch boiling water, arrange artichokes sitting upright. Dot top of each artichoke with 2 tablespoons butter, pressing into couscous. Cover with foil. Steam until hot, about 15 minutes.
6. To serve Trattoria Marcella-style, top each artichoke with ¼ cup Parmesan and ½ tablespoon parsley, place each artichoke on a plate. For the table, a bowl for leaves is handy.
7. To eat, one by one, pull off a single leaf and upend onto your tongue. Pull the leaf through your front teeth, scraping out its tender interior flesh with the bite of couscous; drop the leaf’s inedible exterior into the leaf bowl. Once the leaves are gone, slice the artichoke bottom hidden underneath, eat it dipped in leftover butter.