This vegan lemony artichoke stew is an aromatic traditional Greek dish called ‘Agkinares a la polita’ which means ‘artichokes city-styled’, referring to the city of Constantinople. It’s one of my favorite greek foods and this recipe comes from my mum who used to make this when I was little. It really has simple ingredients, like most greek stews, with the key ingredient here being the artichokes and takes less than an hour to prepare and cook.
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Why you should try my recipe
- Preparation time takes less than 10 minutes
- Cooking time under an hour
- Works with fresh or frozen artichokes
- Stores well in the fridge for up to 3 days
- Easily adjustable recipe for babies and toddlers
Ingredients & How-to
The main ingredients for this vegan artichoke stew are artichokes, potatoes, carrots, lemon and dill. Depending on the season and what I can find in the market, I use fresh or frozen artichokes. If you can find fresh globe artichokes then I recommend those to frozen. Just remove the hard bits and leaves until you reach the center, then get rid of the hairy bits with a knife until you get a nice clean artichoke heart. Sometimes the stem is soft enough to keep too, just remove the outer layer with a knife until you reach the light green interior stem. If you decide to use frozen artichoke hearts then just thaw them out half an hour before.
With the rest of the ingredients, I just chop the onions and green onions and cut the potatoes in dices. You could cut the carrots in slices or, if you are preparing this for a little one then cut them in dices. I start with adding the chopped onion with the oil to sauté for 4-5 minutes before adding the potatoes, carrots, green onions and artichokes in.
I leave them to cook for half an hour in medium to low heat and then put the dill in as it will lose most of its flavor if added from the start. In a small bowl, I combine the lemon juice and one tablespoon of flour until it’s dissolved and added it to the stew with half a cup of water. I let it cook for 10 more minutes over medium heat until the sauce thickens and the veggies are cooked.
Serving suggestions
We usually have the artichoke stew as main for lunch or dinner with some nice crispy bread on the side to dip in that delicious lemony sauce. You could also drizzle a bit of olive oil and lemon juice on the plate after serving.
If serving babies that follow the Baby Led Weaning method or just little ones remember to cut the carrots in dices instead of slices as round shapes can be a choking hazard and remove or adjust the amount of salt.
Storage
You can store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 2-3 days. Just warm it up in the microwave or in a small pan for a couple of minutes and serve.
FAQ
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What type of artichokes can I use for ‘agkinares a la polita’? I recommend using fresh globe artichokes but if you can’t find any then you could use frozen artichoke hearts.
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What can I replace the flour with if I’m gluten-free? If you are following a gluten-free diet you could either skip the flour or add one gluten-free of your choice like corn flour.
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Is the artichoke stew suitable for a baby? You could give the artichoke stew to babies from 6 months old, just make sure that you cut all the vegetables in the right shape and do not add any salt for babies under 12 months.
Watch the video
Lemony Artichoke Stew
This is a hearty, aromatic artichoke stew with main ingredients artichokes, potatoes, carrots, lemon and dill. It's really easy to prepare and it's ready in under an hour. You could serve it with some nice warm bread to dip in that thick lemony sauce. Enjoy!
3 servings
10 minutes
Ingredients
- 8 artichoke hearts
- 1 onion
- 2 potatoes
- 2 carrots
- 5 green onions
- 2 tablespoons of dill
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1-2 lemons
- 1 tablespoon of flour
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper
Instructions
- Start by preparing and cutting the vegetables. Chop the onion and green onions, peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. Peel the carrots and cut them into slices or cubes, chop the dill finely.
- If you are using fresh artichokes remove all hard parts and keep the hearts. Place the hearts in a bowl with water and a few drops of lemon juice so they don't get black. If you are using frozen artichoke hearts, then just take them out of the freezer half an hour before.
- Place the olive oil in a pot and heat over medium to high heat.
- Add the chopped onion and sauté for 4-5 minutes.
- Add the carrots, green onions, potatoes, artichokes, salt and pepper.
- Add 2 cups of water. Lower heat to medium-low. Cover the pot and cook for 30 minutes.
- Uncover and add the chopped dill. Mix in a small bowl the juice from 1-2 lemons and the flour until it's dissolved.
- Add the lemon juice mixture to the pot with half a cup of water. Stir a little bit.
- Cover the pot with a lid and cook for 10 more minutes over medium heat.
Notes
Flour is used to make the sauce more thick. If you are following a gluten-free diet, you could replace it with a flour of your choice like cornflour. You could also skip the flour and just add the lemon juice to the stew without losing any flavor at all.
Storage
You can store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 2-3 days.
Nutrition Info (per serving)
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
