Syrian stuffed artichoke Hearts in tamarind cherry sauce

Like most recipes that are ubiquitous to any culture, there are as many variations as there are people who make it. This meat, or meatless mix can be used to stuff any number of vegetables. I love them all, but this is my favorite.

The name can be a bit confusing. What we’re using is the “heart” of the artichoke, the part that you finally unveil after enjoying all the leaves and scraping off the choke. What’s sold as “artichoke hearts” is really the innermost leaves of baby artichokes. So, whether they’re called artichoke hearts or artichoke bottoms it’s these concave discs that we’re stuffing.

The sauce is delightfully sweet and sour. Here’s my version, as taught to me by a Sephardic friend, who learned from her mother.

Filling

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef (85% lean) or pea protein substitute, such as Impossible™ burger.

• 6 tablespoons matzah meal or plain dry bread crumbs

• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

• ½ cup  cold water

• 1 teaspoon salt

• ¼ teaspoon aleppo pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

• artichoke bottoms, frozen, canned, or freshly steamed and trimmed

Method:

• Combine all ingredients (except for artichoke bottoms) in a bowl and combine them well, using your hands to really massage them all into the meat.

• Use an ice cream scoop to make balls of the meat mixture and press them into the artichoke bottoms.

The easiest (fastest) way to make these is to use frozen or canned artichoke bottoms. If you can’t find them, you can start with whole globe artichokes. And although it’s more work, there is a benefit to starting from scratch—you get all the wonderful “meat” of the artichokes by scraping the individual leaves. Then you can add this to the filling, or save it for an artichoke soup.

Steam them until tender, then peel off the leaves, set them aside, and remove the choke. Turn on your favorite tv show and set yourself up with a teaspoon, a bowl, and a pile of steamed artichoke leaves. Scrape the flesh off each leaf with the edge/tip of the spoon and collect the scrapings in a bowl.

Sauce

Ingredients:

• One 15 ounce can of sour pitted cherries

• One 15 ounce can of sweet pitted cherries (not pie filling!)

• 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onions

• 3 tablespoons “ou” (Syrian tamarind concentrate)

• 1 teaspoon neutral oil, such as sunflower or avocado

• 1/4 cup cold water

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• juice of ½ lemon (if needed)

• Dark brown sugar (if needed)

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 350°.

• In a medium skillet, warm the oil and sauté the onion, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent.

• Add both cans of cherries with their juice, the ou, a sprinkling of salt, a few grinds of pepper, and the water and stir it all together. Bring the sauce to a simmer and taste it. Make it a bit more tart by adding lemon juice, and/or make it sweeter by adding a bit of brown sugar. A little of this, a little of that. Play with the balance until you think it’s fabulous.

• Arrange the stuffed artichoke bottoms in an oven-safe dish and spoon the sauce around them.

• Cover the dish with foil, or if it has a lid, use it.

• Bake for 45 minutes, then remove the cover and bake another 15 minutes to brown the top.

• Serve with rice to soak up the sauce.