Greek Artichoke Stew - Agginares A La Polita

Earthy artichokes, sweet peas, tender carrots, and soft potatoes, all swimming in a silky egg-lemon sauce infused with fresh dill. This Greek Artichoke Stew (Agginares A La Polita) is simple, nourishing, and full of flavor!

This Greek Artichoke recipe is ideal for spring and early summer when artichokes are at their peak. This doesn't mean, of course, that you can't make this stew during winter, using frozen artichokes. It can be almost as flavorful, minus the effort of cleaning fresh artichokes.

Table Of Contents

• Why You'll Love This Dish
• Ingredients
• How To Make
• Recipe TIPS
• Storing
• Reheating
• Recipe

Why You'll Love This Dish

1. It's a light stew that is naturally Vegetarian and meat-free, yet rich and satisfying.
2. It's bright, lemony, and incredibly fresh and nutritious.
3. A one-pot healthy meal, comforting and delicious.

Ingredients

• Artichokes: Using only the artichoke hearts here, either fresh or frozen. If using fresh, make sure to clean them properly. I have a picture tutorial on how to clean artichoke hearts in my Baked Artichokes recipe.
• Peas: again, fresh or frozen. Sweet and tender, they balance the earthy artichokes.
• Carrots: sliced, they add a subtle sweetness.
• Potatoes: optional but traditional. They make this dish even more hearty, and their starch thickens the sauce even better.
• Fresh dill: or fresh fennel greens are essential and really add to the flavor and freshness of the dish.
• Egg & lemon juice: To make the silky egg-lemon sauce.
• Olive oil: extra virgin, of course.
• Onion & garlic: for an aromatic base. If you want to add more Springy flavors, use some Spring onions and Spring garlic as well.

How To Make

To make this Greek Artichoke Stew, you first saute the vegetables, beginning with the onion and garlic, to bring out their sweetness.

Next, you add the potatoes, carrots, and peas and saute for a few minutes. Then pour in water or vegetable stock if you like and simmer for a couple of minutes before adding the artichokes, dill, lemon, and extra virgin olive oil.

Finally, when the veggies are soft and tender, you take the pot off the heat and prepare the Avgolemono sauce (egg-lemon sauce). To do this, you whisk together eggs with lemon and very slowly pour the hot sauce from the pot into the eggs.

Recipe TIPS

• I like peas fully cooked and tender. I find they are sweeter and more flavorful this way. If you don't like vegetables well-cooked, and prefer them more on the crisp side, you may want to cook them all at once. So instead of adding the artichokes later on, add them in from the beginning, together with the peas, and simmer the vegetables all together. This will also reduce cooking time. You will also need to use 2 cups of hot water (or stock) instead of 3 in that case.
• To make a nice and creamy Avgolemono (egg and lemon sauce), lightly beat eggs with lemon juice and add drops of the hot liquid from the pot while you keep beating with a whisk. You should introduce the hot liquid into the eggs very slowly so they won't curdle.
• You can skip the egg and use cornstarch instead to thicken this Artichoke stew. Use a tablespoon or two of cornstarch and mix it with the lemon juice, then pour it straight into the pot. It needs to boil for a minute or two to thicken.

Storing

You can keep this Artichoke stew in a food container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Don't use metal food containers because they may react with the lemon. Also, I don't advise storing leftovers in the freezer; most of the flavor and freshness of the dish will be lost.

Reheating

To reheat Artichoke stew, add it to a small cooking pot or saucepan with a splash of water or stock and reheat on the stovetop at the lowest heat. Microwaving will alter the texture of the egg-lemon sauce.

Recipe