Recipe: Artichokes With Green Goddess Dressing

By Executive Chef Justin Wangler 
In: Recipes

Artichokes and avocados are two of the first things that come to mind when I think of California cuisine. Our garden is full of beautiful artichokes right now, and I’m thrilled to be eating and cooking them. I think people are sometimes intimidated by the preparation of artichokes, but with a little time and prep-work the final product is worth the effort.

I have always enjoyed artichokes ever since the 3rd grade when my mom returned home from a trip to California with a basket full.  She steamed them up and served them with lemon mayonnaise; I thought they were so new and exciting that I took them to school the next day for show & tell.  Even though I was I excited, the artichokes got mixed reviews from my classmates in North Carolina.

Artichokes are typically served with mayonnaise, lemon-butter or aioli, but I like to serve artichokes with Green Goddess dressing.  We make a traditional Green Goddess dressing, but also like to add avocado to bring richness and depth of color to the dressing.  Avocados aren’t just for guacamole, they are a great addition to salads or excellent for puréeing in sauces and dressings.

For this recipe you’ll need to clean the artichokes before you begin cooking. Like I said, it’s really not that hard. There’s a great step-by-step tutorial at Italian Food Forever that’ll have you enjoying them in no time.

Artichokes with Green Goddess Dressing
Serve with Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay

For the artichokes:

  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1 onion, large dice
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 1 carrot, sliced
  • 3 dozen small artichokes, cleaned & halved
  • 1 cup white wine, such as Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay
  • 2 quarts water
  • 1 lemon
  • 12 peppercorns
  • 6 thyme sprigs
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1/8 cup kosher salt

Method

  1. In a large pot, add oil and heat for 1 minute over medium-high heat.
  2. Add the onion, garlic and carrot.  Cook until soft, approximately 5 minutes.
  3. Add artichokes and cook for 1 minute.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer on low for 1 hour or until tender.  Strain the liquid into a bowl over an ice bath, add the artichokes to the liquid and allow to cool.

For the Green Goddess dressing (yields 3 cups):

  • ¼ cup Chardonnay verjus
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 shallot
  • 5 anchovy filets
  • 1 cup parsley leaves
  • ¼ cup tarragon leaves
  • ¼ cup dill leaves
  • ¼ cup chives, chopped
  • ½ cup basil leaves
  • 1 scallion, white and green parts chopped
  • ¾ cup mayonnaise
  • ½ cup Greek style yogurt
  • ½ avocado flesh
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Method

  1. In a blender, combine all of the ingredients and puree until smooth.  Salt and pepper to taste.