Israeli-Style Stuffed Artichoke Bottoms with Peas is a savory Mediterranean dish that originated in North Africa.
When the Jews of Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya immigrated to Israel to escape persecussion from the Muslims after the esablishment of the State, the dish was adapated to became popular in Israeli food culture.
This hearty meal is made of tender artichoke hearts filled with a flavorful ground beef filling and cooked with peas in a delicious sauce, with the warm, earthy, and Middle Eastern flavor of cumin.
Artichoke bottoms are popular in dishes in the Middle East and Meditteranean.
A little about this dish
This dish originated in North Africa and was brought to Israeli by Jewish immigrants from Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia.
Since the Muslims in the Middle East were against the establishment of the State of Israel, after the declaration of the State in 1948, life for Jews in other Middle Eastern countries became significantly more difficult because of hostility and attacks by Muslims.
This brought about a wave of immigration from those countries to Israel in the 1950s, and the Jews brought their delicious recipes and flavorful spices with them. Which, in turn, created the Mizrahi cuisine in Israel. Recipes were quite often shared and adapted and are now considered part of Israeli cuisine.
The cumin in Israeli-style stuffed artichoke bottoms recipe gives the recipe its Middle Eastern flavor and the turmeric gives it its color. And both cumin and turmeric have nutritional value!
A little about artichokes
The artichoke was first found in the Mediterranean growing wild, as it still does in some places today.
The artichoke (scientific name: Cynara Cardunculus) has a long history in the Mediterranean and stories have even been made up about the plant.
The Greeks and Romans believed the artichoke was good luck for the birth of a son.
There is more than one idea for how the artichoke spread through Europe and to North America.
One of these is that the Arabs brought the plant to Spain and then Spanish settlers brought the plant to North America in the 17th century.
Another is that Catherine De Medici brought artichokes to France when she was 14 and married off to Henry II and from there it spread to other European countries and later the French brought the plant to North America.
The plant found a permanent home in Castroville, California, which is located 19 miles northeast of Monterey and nicknamed “The Artichoke Capital of the World”. The town currently provides the largest supply of artichokes in the United States.
Artichokes have health benefits, such as being rich in fiber, vitamins (such as vitamin C and vitamin K), minerals (such as magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, and iron), and antioxidants (which are believed to help reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes, stroke, and heart disease), but are low in fat.
Stuffed Artichoke Bottoms has cumin and tumeric. The cumin in this Stuffed Artichoke Bottoms recipe gives the recipe its Middle Eastern flavor and the turmeric gives it its color.
What does it mean when recipes say “to taste” about an ingredient?
When recipes say “to taste,” it means that you can put in as little or as much as you like to your own taste. Some recipes have many ingredients that a cook can adjust to their own taste when cooking (not so much when baking though).
The best way to calculate what your taste is with a recipe that you are not yet familiar with is to first taste the dish and then add the “to taste” ingredient GRADUALLY, a little at a time—a splash of this or a pinch of that—until the dish is just the way you like it. Make sure to stir the ingredient after each time you add it so that the flavor will distribute evenly and become part of the dish. Then taste again. Repeat until you reach your personal preference.
Note: If you plan on using the recipe again, it is highly recommended to make a note of what and how much you added so that you can refer to it next time.
What does “savory” mean?
“Savory” refers to foods that are not sweet, such as foods that taste salty, spicy, or herbal.
A little about Israeli cuisine
Some people complain about cultural appropriation in cuisine when food from one country is attributed to another country.
However, national cuisine in itself is often a mingling of food from a variety of cultures, often due to a change of ruling countries and a shifting of borders.
Turkish cuisine, for example, goes back to the Ottoman Empire and was a combination of several cultures under Ottoman rule.
When people move from country to country, they will take their cultures with them, and their descendants may adapt their traditional cuisine with that of their new home, and if they don’t, others might.
Chinese food in US restaurants is quite often not really authentic Chinese but Cinese-American.
Americans have created a whole variety of types and styles of pizza, and pineapple pizza was apparently created in Canada by a Greek immigrant. Yet, everyone still calls them all “pizza,” which originated in Italy.
Spaghetti is thought to be an Italian food, but many historians believe that it was brought back to Italy from China by Marco Polo.
Apparently, battered fried fish was from the Portuguese Jewish community as a Sabbath food and ended up in England via Holland during the Spanish Inquisition, yet everyone attributes the food to the British.
…and don’t get me started on Hummus.
When one lives in a melting pot, such as the US or Israel, it is just unrealistic to expect that food from a particular culture won’t mingle with that of other cultures.
That being said, “Israeli cuisine” is basically Middle Eastern (as opposed to Eastern European food) that was brought to Israel by Jews when they fled or were expelled from Muslim countries and moved to Israel mostly after the declaration of the State of Israel (collectively known as Mizrahi Jews).
Recipes were passed from generation to generation, and although decades have passed, the foods are still known by the culture they came from, and everyone seems to have their own way of making them.
That said, there are many variations of pretty much any “Israeli” recipe because of background, custom, or even just taste. When choosing a recipe, one has to know what actually constitutes a main ingredient—what makes the dish what it is—and what is left up to individual taste.
I personally find it very arrogant and quite irritating when a blogger (not naming names) will put “authentic” in the title of an “Israeli” recipe, as if all the rest of the variations are mere imitations. What’s worse is when that blogger makes the recipe with her own twist and then calls it authentic!
Adding more or less of a spice or adding a spice that is not in the recipe does not make it less authentic, but calling it “authentic” and then adding unnecessary extra ingredients above and beyond what needs to be there is misleading.
For example, “authentic” Israeli salad (what Israelis call Israeli salad) is diced tomatoes and cucumbers. Sometimes, they will add some oil, salt, and pepper, but THAT’S IT. Anything else does not have to be there, but if you leave out the cucumbers or the tomatoes, you no longer have an “Israeli salad.”
So, find the recipes you like with the ingredients you prefer, add your own twists, and בתאבון (pronounced: b’te’ah’vone, literally translated, “with appetite”)!
What is needed for this recipe?
I hardly ever meal plan, so I like to keep a cupboard full of seasonings, spices, veggies, and canned goods in my kitchen to use whenever the mood strikes.
But these are what you need to have on hand to make this recipe. Don’t be daunted by the quantity of ingredients. They are for flavoring and there is nothing special you have to do with them, except mix them in!
artichoke bottoms
onion
ground beef
chicken consommé powder (regular or parve)
ground turmeric
onion powder
ground cumin
granulated garlic
ground black pepper
dried or fresh cilatro (optional)
canned or cooked peas
lemon juice (optional for a tangy taste)
a little cooking oil
Want to try some more dishes that are popular in the Middle East and Mediterranean? Try these easy recipes!
Easy Israeli-Style Stuffed Artichoke Bottoms with Peas
A delicious Israeli-Style Middle Eastern dish of stuffed artichoke bottoms with flavorful ground beef and sweet peas.
Ingredients
Artichokes
- 8 frozen artichoke bottoms (medium, on average)*
- 1 pound ground beef**
- 1 tablespoon chicken consommé powder
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¾ teaspoon granulated garlic
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper or to taste (optional)
- 2 teaspoons dried cilatro or 4 teaspoons fresh cilantro (optional)
Sauce
- 1 onion (medium or large, as desired), chopped or diced
- 2 tablespoons chicken consommé powder (parve is ok)
- 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- ¾ teaspoons granulated garlic powder
- 12 ounces canned or cooked peas (more or less, as desired)***
- splash lemon juice (optional for a tangy taste)
- a little cooking oil for frying onions
- water
Instructions
Artichokes
- In a mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, consommé powder, turmeric, onion powder, ground cumin, granulated garlic, pepper (if using), and cilantro (if using).
- Shape balls to fit inside the artichoke bottoms and push in so they stick. Set aside or put in refrigerator to chill.
Sauce
- Lightly fry the onion with minimal oil in a pot or pan that will be large enough for all of the artichoke bottoms and not be on top of one another.
- Drain excess oil if there is any.
- Add the consommé powder, turmeric, onion powder, ground cumin, and pepper, if desired. If you like this dish a little tangy, add the splash of lemon juice to taste. Mix well.
- Place artichoke bottoms in pan so they are not on top of one another.
- Fill the pot so with enough water to reach the tops of the artichoke bottoms.
- Cover the pan and cook on medium heat for 30 minutes or until you can slide a fork easily through the largest arichoke bottom and the meat is solid. Baste occasionally so the tops don't dry out as the water will somewhat evaporate as it becomes sauce. If you feel that too much has evaporated, add a little water being careful not to dilute the sauce.
- Add the canned or cooked peas. Gently mix in the sauce and cook for another few minutes.
Notes
*Sometimes, there are small artichoke bottoms in the package. That's fine as long as there are some larger ones to balance out the meat filling.
**A little more meat is OK too if you want to stuff them higher.
*** You can use uncooked peas, but then put them the sauce with the artichokes and let them cook together.
Tip 1:The flavor for this dish is completely adaptable, so you can adjust the spices to your taste, including using more or less consommé powder for desired saltiness. Be careful with the turmeric, because too much turmeric will probably make the dish taste like soap.
Tip 2: If you want this dish to take less time, you can cook the arichoke bottoms separately ahead of time and then do the rest, cooking and basting until the meat becomes solid.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 587Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 121mgSodium: 1329mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 18gSugar: 7gProtein: 46g