My love for artichokes comes from my father. He’d arrange them in a pressure cooker, secure the lid, then let them cook away. Afterward, we’d tear off each leaf, dunking each one into a blob of mayo (Best Foods, of course) before using our teeth to scrape off the soft part to enjoy.
Because I always thought that old-school pressure cooker looked like a bomb about to go off, when I got older, I opted to use my rice cooker to steam my artichokes instead.
Of course, that had the disadvantage of only being able to cook to at a time. So when I spied this recipe for “Oven-Roasted Artichokes” that cooks four — or more if you want to add a second pan to the oven — I was keen on trying it.
The fact that the artichokes get flavored with garlic and aromatic herbes de Provence as they cook enticed me even more.
This super easy recipe is from “Mostly French” (Simon Element, 2025), of which I received a review copy.
It was written by Makenna Held, who had the temerity to buy, sight unseen, La Pitchoune, Julia Child’s summer home in Provence, after seeing a listing for it in the New York Times. Today, she operates it as the appropriately named Courageous Cooking School.
In fact, the lush photos in the cookbook were taken at La Pitchoune. Together with its 150 recipes, the cookbook transports you to the bucolic South of France.
Recipes such as “Ratatouille Galette,” “Plum and Thyme Bellinis,” “Roast Chickens with Lemon and Sumac,” and “Strawberry Cardamom Pot de Creme” will put anyone in a cheery vacation mode.
For this artichoke recipe, you’ll need four large ones. Trim the top. While Held instructs to cut off any attached stems and discard, I think that’s a missed opportunity because when cooked they are as tender as the hearts. Instead, cut off the stems and shave off the tough outer layer with a paring knife or peeler. Reserve.
Rub the artichokes and stems with a cut lemon. Place each artichoke on a piece of aluminum foil large enough to wrap it in. Next, gently open its leaves so you can fill them with salt, pepper, herbes de Provence and the grated garlic. Drizzle on olive oil, followed by a squeeze of lemon juice. Then, seal the artichoke in the foil. Repeat with the remaining artichokes. Then, place the stems in one piece of foil with the same seasonings added, and seal.
Place the packages of artichokes and steams in a roasting pan. Roast until tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
When done, carefully unwrap, and serve the artichokes with your choice of mayo, vinaigrette or even Bearnaise or Hollandaise sauce. Or in my case now, Japanese Kewpie mayo.
The dried herbs perfume the entire artichoke and the buttery, pungent garlic is simply irresistible.
I find this cooking method leaves the artichokes with even more concentrated earthy, nutty, and pleasantly astringent flavor. What’s more, they also end up juicier and even more tender. So much so that it’s even more of a breeze to scrape off the fuzzy choke to get to the prized heart.
And the stems? Every bit as good as the rest.
Oven-Roasted Artichokes
(Serves 4 as a starter)
4 large artichokes, the bigger the better
2 lemons, cut in half
Olive oil
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons herbes de Provence, or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
4 garlic cloves, grated
Hollandaise, Bernaise, mayonnaise, or vinaigrette, for serving
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Using a heavy knife, cut the top of each artichoke off about 1 inch from the pointed tip. Using kitchen scissors, snip the thorny tip from every other leaf. Cut off the thick stem, if attached. Using a paring knife or vegetable peeler, shave off the tough outer layer. Rub the artichoke and the stem all over with the cut side of a lemon half.
Place each artichoke on a piece of aluminum foil large enough to wrap it. Opening up the leaves to accept the seasonings, drizzle a healthy glug of oil over the artichoke, season with salt and a few cracks of pepper, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of the herbes de Provence, and sprinkle with the garlic. Rub the seasonings between the leaves as best you can. Squeeze the juice from the lemon half all over the artichoke, and wrap the artichoke in the foil. Repeat with the remaining artichokes. Similarly, arrange the four stems on one piece of foil, add a little more of the seasonings, drizzle on olive oil, squeeze on lemon juice, and fold up into a neat package.
Nestle the artichokes and the stems in a roasting pan.
Roast until the artichoke leaves are tender enough to be easily pulled off, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. (Carefully open a packet — watch for the steam — to check for doneness.) Unwrap the artichokes and stems.
Serve the artichokes and stems warm with small bowls of the sauce of your choice on the side. Provide an empty bowl to hold the scraped leaves.
Adapted from “Mostly French” by Makenna Held
More Artichoke Recipes to Enjoy: Roasted Artichoke Hearts with Fennel and Tarragon
