Stuffed Artichokes

Stuffed with goat or Romano cheese, these artichokes work as appetizers or a light meal with salad. The artichokes are steamed for a healthy preparation.

Ingredients

4 medium size artichokes
4 cups fine, dry bread crumbs
2 cups grated hard goat cheese or Romano cheese
4 garlic cloves, mashed
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 egg
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Wash and trim artichokes spreading the leaves out so that you open up the flower almost to the choke. Soak in hot water to help do this.
In a large bowl mix together the remaining ingredients. The mixture should be moist enough to hold together when you squeeze a handful. Add a little more olive oil if it is not moist enough. Separate into four equal portions.
Using one portion of the mixture, start stuffing from the outside leaves until you have filled the entire artichoke all around and it has doubled in size.
Place the stuffed artichokes in a heavy pot (such as the bottom of a Dutch oven), add about 1 1/2" of water, drizzle a little olive oil over all, cover tightly and steam until tender. Here in Colorado it takes about 1 1/2 hours for young artichokes, although I usually steam for 2 hours because we like them very done.