Another favorite “Tapas” of the Spanish people is this one. Alcachofas a la Parrilla, which are fresh, marinated artichokes, well seasoned and grilled.
Alcachofas a la Parrilla Recipe-
Ingredients:
- 12 large, fresh young whole artichokes
- 1 1/2 cups red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 cup scallion infused olive oil
- Freshly ground course sea salt and black peppercorns
Directions:
- Grab the artichokes one at a time by the stalk, and smack them firmly against a hard surface, such as a wooden or stone countertop. This will open them up, while not breaking off too many of the leaves. Now chop the stalks off, and rinse the artichokes well in cold water, then set aside on cloth or paper towels to drain. Once they are dry, chop them in half, right down the middle, top to bottom. Strip off any of the outside leaves that are tough. With young artichokes, you shouldn’t have many that need removing.
- In a very large bowl, place the all the artichoke halves. Season them with a liberal dousing of vinegar, then sprinkle them with some lemon juice and a little drizzling of the olive oil. Stir and toss them, and season some more with all three seasonings. Make sure they are all well seasoned on both sides with this marinade mixture. Cover the bowl and refrigerate.
- Continue to marinade for at least 8 hours, every now and then stirring them to ensure an even distribution of the seasoning.
- Using a good quality hardwood lump charcoal, ignite the coals and bring to red-hot. Put the artichokes on a rack over the coals and grille them, basting with the marinade frequently, until they are nicely browned and tender.
- Serve your Alcachofas a la Parrilla piping hot, four halves per person, and place the artichokes on the serving plates with the sliced flat side up.
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