Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
• 6 large artichokes
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Procedure

In a large pot with a tight-fitting lid bring about 1 inch water, lemon juice, and teaspoon salt to a boil.

Meanwhile, cut the stems and thorns from the artichokes. Place the trimmed artichokes, stem-side down and standing, in the pot. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook until a leaf pulls out easily from each artichoke, about 20 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.

Pull off and discard very dark green, outer leaves from the artichokes. Pull off remaining leaves and set aside. Cut off any fibrous dark green parts around outside of the heart. Use a spoon to scrape out the fuzzy choke. Roughly chop the heart and put it in a blender or food processor. Repeat with remaining artichokes.

Use a spoon to scrape off tender flesh from each leaf. Discard the scarped leaf and put the artichoke flesh in the blender with the hearts. Repeat with the remaining leaves.

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat melt the butter. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer the garlic to the blender with the artichokes. Set the pan aside.

Whirl the artichokes with the broth until very smooth. You will need to let the blender run a bit for this to happen; whirl for at least 2 minutes. This will seem like a long time. Stick with it. You're looking for a smoother-than-smooth texture.

Transfer the artichoke mixture to a large saucepan. Bring the puree to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a steady simmer. Add the cream, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook just to heat the added cream.

Notes

Ref: Spruce Eats, Cream of Artichoke Soup

"What was that thing that you made that took so long?" "Artichoke soup?" "Yeah, and it wasn't even that good."