Chef Isabel
Albergínies Farcides Mallorquines
Albergínies farcides are Mallorca's summer stuffed aubergines: tender boiled shells, a slow pork sofrito with moraduix, and a plain breadcrumb cap baked until the top turns crisp and golden.
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Alcachofas Rellenas Catalanas
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Carxofes farcides are Catalan stuffed artichokes: tender hearts filled with jamón, slow sweet onion, and breadcrumbs, then baked in a light creamy sauce until the tops turn golden.
Appetizers & Snacks
Spanish
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
Comfort Food
35 min
Active Time
55 min cook•1 hr 30 min total
Yield4 servings
Carxofes farcides are Catalan, artichokes trimmed to their tender hearts, opened like little cups, and filled with jamón, onion, garlic, parsley, and bread. This is not a showy dish. It belongs to the table when artichokes are good, especially in the cool months, when they are heavy for their size and the leaves squeak a little under your fingers.
The method that decides it is the trimming. Leave too much tough leaf and the filling can be perfect but the dish still fights you. Cut down to the pale heart, scoop the choke clean, rub everything with lemon, and give the artichokes a short simmer before stuffing. That way they bake tender instead of drying out around the edges.
The filling rests on a slow sofregit, the Catalan slow onion base, cooked low until sweet and golden. Rush it and you taste raw onion under the jamón. Take the time, bind it with egg and breadcrumbs, spoon it into the hearts, and let the creamy sauce do its quiet work in the oven. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
If you are far from Catalonia, use good fresh globe artichokes and real jamón serrano. If jamón is hard to find, a little Spanish lomo or even panceta gives salt and fat, though the flavor will be rounder and less cured. No hace falta haber pisado España. You do need artichokes worth cooking and the nerve to trim them properly.
Stuffed vegetables are old Catalan home cooking, especially in market towns where seasonal produce met the cured larder and a little meat was stretched with bread, onion, and herbs. Artichokes have deep roots around the Mediterranean coast, and Catalonia's winter and spring markets make room for them in stews, rice dishes, tortillas, and baked preparations like carxofes farcides. The dish follows a practical Catalan habit: a sofregit for sweetness, a modest filling for body, and often a sauce or picada to bring everything together.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
medium globe artichokes
Quantity
8 (about 1.2kg total)
trimmed to hearts
lemons
Quantity
2
halved
salt
Quantity
2 tablespoons for cooking water, plus more to taste
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
40ml
onion
Quantity
1 medium (about 180g)
finely chopped
garlic
Quantity
2 cloves
finely chopped
jamón serrano
Quantity
120g
finely diced
day-old breadcrumbs
Quantity
70g
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 tablespoons
chopped
large egg
Quantity
1
beaten
unsalted butter
Quantity
25g
plain flour
Quantity
25g
whole milk
Quantity
350ml
warm
artichoke cooking water or light chicken stock
Quantity
150ml
grated nutmeg
Quantity
1 pinch
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| medium globe artichokestrimmed to hearts | 8 (about 1.2kg total) |
| lemonshalved | 2 |
| salt | 2 tablespoons for cooking water, plus more to taste |
| extra virgin olive oil | 40ml |
| onionfinely chopped | 1 medium (about 180g) |
| garlicfinely chopped | 2 cloves |
| jamón serranofinely diced | 120g |
| day-old breadcrumbs | 70g |
| flat-leaf parsleychopped | 2 tablespoons |
| large eggbeaten | 1 |
| unsalted butter | 25g |
| plain flour | 25g |
| whole milkwarm | 350ml |
| artichoke cooking water or light chicken stock | 150ml |
| grated nutmeg | 1 pinch |
| black pepper | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Large bowl for lemon water
- •Small sharp knife
- •Melon baller or teaspoon
- •Wide pot
- •Medium baking dish, about 28cm by 20cm
Instructions
- 1
Trim the artichokes
Fill a large bowl with cold water and squeeze in one lemon. Working one artichoke at a time, pull away the tough outer leaves until you reach the pale tender leaves, cut off the top third, trim the stem to 2cm, and pare the dark green outside from the base and stem. Rub every cut surface with lemon as you go. Pésalo, no lo adivines matters for flour and milk; here the kindness is trimming without mercy.
- 2
Scoop and simmer
Open the center leaves gently and scoop out the fuzzy choke with a small spoon or melon baller, making a cup for the filling. Put the cleaned hearts into the lemon water as each one is ready. Bring a wide pot of salted water to a boil, add the artichokes and the squeezed lemon halves, then simmer for 12 to 15 minutes until a knife enters the base with slight resistance. Drain them upside down and save 150ml of the cooking water.
Do not cook them until soft all the way through now. They still have the oven to go, and an overcooked heart collapses when you fill it. - 3
Cook the sofregit
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over low heat. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook for 18 to 20 minutes, stirring often, until it is dark gold, soft, and sweet. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. This slow sofregit, the Catalan onion base, is where the sweetness comes from; high heat gives you sharp onion and a thinner dish.
- 4
Mix the filling
Stir the diced jamón into the sofregit for 1 minute, just until its fat shines in the pan. Take the pan off the heat and mix in the breadcrumbs, parsley, beaten egg, and a little black pepper. Taste before adding salt, because the jamón may already have done the work. The filling should be moist enough to hold together, not wet.
- 5
Make the sauce
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes, keeping it pale. Whisk in the warm milk little by little, then add the reserved artichoke water or light stock. Cook 5 to 7 minutes until smooth and lightly thickened, then season with nutmeg, black pepper, and salt only if it needs it.
- 6
Stuff and bake
Heat the oven to 180C. Spoon a thin layer of sauce into a baking dish just large enough to hold the artichokes snugly. Set the hearts upright, fill each one generously with the jamón mixture, and spoon the remaining sauce around them, not over the tops. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the artichokes are fully tender, the sauce is bubbling at the edges, and the filling is golden.
- 7
Rest and serve
Let the dish rest for 10 minutes before serving. The sauce settles, the filling firms, and the artichokes stop being too hot to taste properly. Serve two artichokes per person as a first course, with bread for the sauce. Tal como se hace allí, plain and good.
Chef Tips
- •Buy artichokes in season, when they feel heavy and tight and the stem looks fresh. If the leaves are dry and splayed open, no amount of sauce will make them tender.
- •Frozen artichoke hearts are the honest substitute if fresh ones are poor where you are. Use 800g large frozen hearts, thaw them, pat them dry, skip the trimming and simmering, and bake them in the sauce for 20 to 25 minutes. The flavor is less green and the cups are flatter, but dinner still happens.
- •Use jamón serrano cut a little thicker so you can dice it. Paper-thin slices disappear into the filling and turn stringy. If you must substitute, use a small amount of Spanish lomo or panceta and reduce added salt.
- •Do not drown the tops with sauce. The sauce belongs around the artichokes so the filling browns and the bases stay tender.
Advance Preparation
- •The artichokes can be trimmed, simmered, drained, and chilled up to 1 day ahead. Keep them covered so they do not dry out.
- •The filling and sauce can be made up to 1 day ahead and kept separately in the refrigerator. Assemble just before baking.
- •Leftovers keep 2 days covered in the refrigerator. Reheat gently at 160C until the sauce loosens and the centers are hot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 430g)
Calories
520 calories
Total Fat
24 g
Saturated Fat
8 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
15 g
Cholesterol
90 mg
Sodium
1650 mg
Total Carbohydrates
56 g
Dietary Fiber
16 g
Sugars
10 g
Protein
24 g
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