My friend John made this antepasto several times for us. It is so tasty that I requested, no, firmly insisted, on the recipe from him. He spotted it on Epicurious. He did make some minimal changes to the dish, mostly with the amounts of ingredients. This is his version as best as I can make it.

grilled artichokes with mint, caper and anchovy

I adore artichokes. Do you? If so, then this is a must-make dish.

I bought eight gorgeous artichokes at our local TJ’s the other day. They came from nearby Castroville, the land of artichokes in America. They were cheap: just 59 cents each! It is a pain to prepare them but I don’t mind it at all. I used the steps that I described in pickled artichokes to get these ready.

use your fresh artichokes as a table decoration before making them into a meal

grilled artichokes with mint, caper and anchovy

½ to ¾ cup olive oil
8 filets of anchovy, minced
4 tbsp drained capers, minced
½ cup mint leaves chopped fine
Freshly ground black pepper
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
8 artichokes, cleaned and cut in halves
½ lemon
1 bowl filled with cold water

Prepare the marinade by whisking together olive oil, anchovies, capers, mint, black pepper and vinegar. Set aside.

Clean the artichokes following the recipe for pickled artichokes.

Steam cleaned artichokes until tender, about ten minutes. Then transfer to a bowl filled with ice water to stop cooking process. Drain once cool.

Drizzle some olive oil from marinade over artichokes and grill them for 10 minutes or until slightly charred. My grill was dirty so instead I broiled these in the oven. The charred flavor the grill imparts to the chokes is better but the oven does a great job too. Depending on how hot your grill gets, you may need less time. Transfer grilled artichokes to a serving platter and pour marinade over them. Toss to combine then let sit for 20 minutes to fully blend flavors. Serve at room temperature.