How to Get the Artichoke Heart

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by Renae Chiovaro on May 4, 2011

Yesterday I did a tutorial on how to prepare an artichoke. There were several of you who found this very useful so I thought I would give a few more tips on how to get to the heart of an artichoke! It’s really easy, but if you have never done it before I am sure these tips will help.

Artichoke Leaves

Just in case you didn’t know, the white part of the artichoke leaves is edible. When cooked, the artichoke leaves will pull off easily. If you desire, dip the whitish area in butter or mayonnaise and pull it over top of your teeth. Use your teeth as a rake basically- you are not biting off the whole tip. As you get closer to the middle of the artichoke, there will be a larger more tender edible part of the leaves.

As you work your way towards the center of the artichoke, you will see that the leaves become thinner and look different. There really is not much to eat on these leaves so they can be discarded.

Usually the thin middle leaves can be pulled off in a clump revealing the choke. You will see a hairy looking center- that is the choke and it is not edible. Take a spoon and scrape off the choke.

Once the choke is removed you will be at the heart of the artichoke! The whole thing is edible. I like to chop it up and add it to pasta dishes. I like the fresh artichoke hearts so much better than the marinated ones!

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Renae Chiovaro

Renae is a married working mom of two handsome boys. She works as a registered dental hygienist by day and blogs here at How to Have it All by night. She enjoys cooking from scratch, working in her vegetable garden and functional training.