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1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Fill a bowl with water
and squeeze the lemon
over it. Set aside the squeezed-out lemon.
2. Remove the tough parts of the outer leaves from an
artichoke. This is best done
by bending the leaf flat back and then pulling straight
down, taking the tips of the leaves
and much of the stringy fiber, but leaving the meaty
bases. Work your way around the
artichoke, until you come to leaves where the bases are
tender and pale green. Use a
large knife to cut off the dark green top by one-third.
3. Trim the stem of the artichoke with a paring knife,
making a flat base and carefully
peel away any tough dark green peel, exposing the tender
pale surface. Rub the cut
surfaces with the lemon half.
4. Place the artichoke upside down on a work surface and
press down firmly to begin
to spread the leaves. Turn the artichoke right-side up
and use your fingers to spread
the leaves as much as possible. Use a melon baller or
grapefruit spoon to remove
the innermost purple-tipped leaves and scrape the fuzzy
choke from the base.
5. Place the cleaned artichoke in the bowl of lemon water
and repeat with the
remaining artichokes.
6. Mince the garlic by dropping it down the feed tube
of a food processor while it's
running. Stop the machine and add the bread cubes. Pulse
2 or 3 times. Add the ham
and the parsley and pulse until both the bread and ham
are in large crumbs, about
4 or 5 times. Remove the blade and stir in the lemon
zest, pine nuts and salt.
7. Drain the artichokes (turn them upside down and spread
the leaves) and fill the
central cavity of each with some of the stuffing mixture,
mounding it over the top
and working a bit of it between the leaves. Arrange the
artichokes in an oiled baking
dish just large enough to hold them in a single layer.
8. Pour the wine into the bottom of the dish and add just
enough water to come to
a depth of about 3/4 inch. Cover the dish with foil and
bake until the artichokes are
tender enough that you can easily pull out one of the
interior leaves (a knife will
pierce the base easily as well), about 45 minutes.
9. Remove the dish from the oven and carefully pour the
leftover liquid into a small
saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat and reduce to
a thin syrup. Pour over the
cooked artichokes and serve warm or set aside to cool
to room temperature before serving.
