Artichokes a la barigoule is one of classic dishes from French cuisine, made here with baby violet artichokes which are braised with seasonal vegetables, you can use the bigger artichoke hearts which are more common if you can’t get the baby artichokes.

This recipe will feed four people as a starter or as a side dish.

12 baby violet artichokes, peeled & trimmed

75 ml/ 3 fl oz olive oil

12 pearl onions

75g / 2 oz smoked bacon lardons

2 carrots peeled & sliced

8 baby turnips peeled & halved

8 baby button mushrooms

8 long baby radishes

2 cloves garlic thinly sliced

150 ml / 6 fl oz dry white wine

330 ml / 12 fl oz chicken stock

2 tblsp chopped parsley

Salt & pepper

Firstly we need to prepare the artichokes by peeling off the tough outer leaves, about 3 layers, then cut of the top 1/3 of the leaves, with a paring knife we need to peel the stalks, cut them about inch & half long & trim around the artichoke just below the leaves to remove any hard parts. Cut them in half lengthwise & rub them with lemon juice, place them in a bowl of water into which you have squeezed juice of half a lemon, keep them this way until you cook them so they do not discolour.

These are prepared artichokes which I have cut in half.

Next place a sauté pan on the stove which is large enough to hold all of the ingredients in this recipe.

To this pan add the olive oil, when hot enough add the baby onions & smoked bacon, sauté until the the bacon has a nice brown caramelised colour.

Remember to season as you go, but be careful as most smoked bacon is already quite salty.

At this point add the artichokes, carrots, mushrooms & radishes, sauté lightly without colouring the vegetables for 2 – 3 minutes, at which point you add the garlic, increase the heat then add the white wine to deglaze the pan, cook for 1- 2 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by half, at which point add the stock & reduce the pan to a simmer.

Put a lid on the pan & cook the vegetables for 4 – 5 mins, at which point check all the individual vegetables to see how they are cooked, if they are not cooked you can cook them a bit longer, but remove any vegetables that are already cooked while you do this.

At this point normally you would boil the pan now to reduce the sauce to a thick glaze, but I like my barigoule quite wet, so I remove the vegetables & keep them warm while I whisk in a large knob of butter, Monte au beurre, to thicken & enrich the sauce, after all what is French food with out butter.

Add the vegetables back into the broth & warm gently but do not boil as the butter will split in the broth. Spoon equally into bowls sprinkle over chopped parsley & serve with slice of good crusty bread,

In this bowl i have served little baby girolle mushrooms rather than button mushrooms, you can use any mushrooms you like but would say ceps or porchini would overpower the artichoke to much.

Vegetables can be altered to use favourite vegetables or seasonal vegetables, you just have to consider each vegetables cooking time, the appropriate time to add them to the pan.

While I am in lock down due to covid19 I will try to add as many recipes as possible that people asked for last season, so if there is something you want just message me.

Happy cooking