Aginares à la Polita
(Greek artichoke hearts and potatoes with dill)
Image by Wikipedia: Pepperedjane
Aginares à la polita means "artichokes city-style." The city in this case is Constantinople, now Istanbul. This wonderful dish is a harbinger of spring and makes good use of artichokes, of one of the first spring vegetables in the market after a long winter.
4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
- Olive oil -- 1/4 cup
- Onion, chopped -- 1
- Scallions, chopped -- 4
- Artichoke hearts, cooked and halved -- 5 or 6
- Small new potatoes, halved or quartered -- 5 or 6
- Carrots, peeled and cut into chunks -- 3
- Stock or water -- 2 to 3 cups
- Salt and pepper -- to taste
- Lemon juice -- 1/4 cup
- Cornstarch or flour -- 1 tablespoon
- Fresh dill, chopped -- 3 tablespoons
Method
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and sauté the onions until translucent. Add the scallions and sauté for another 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the artichoke hearts, potatoes, carrots, salt and pepper to the onions and pour in the stock or water to come about 3/4 the way up the vegetables. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are cooked through.
- Remove the vegetables to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Stir the cornstarch or flour into the lemon juice, and the whisk the mixture into the vegetable cooking liquid, stirring constantly. Stir in the chopped dill.
- Increase the heat to medium and bring the liquid to a slow boil, stirring constantly, and cook until the sauce is lightly thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir the vegetables back into the sauce, heat through and adjust seasoning to taste.
Aginares à la Polita Variations
- If you like, you can omit the cornstarch. Just add the lemon juice with the water and finish with Step 2.
