1 lemon, cut in half
2 artichokes, cleaned
100g fine green beans, cleaned

vinaigrette:
Handful fresh parsley
Handful fresh tarragon
Handful fresh mint
½ lemon, juice only
1 tablespoon capers
2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon mustard
Salt and pepper

to serve:
Parmesan cheese shavings

METHOD

Prepare the artichokes by removing the all the outer leaves and cutting off the stem.

Place water in a saucepan and squeeze the juice of the lemon into the water before adding the two lemon halves. Boil the water and the lemon and its juice before adding the artichokes and continue to boil for 20 minutes or until they are tender (depending on their size).

Place the beans in a separate pan of boiling water and add a pinch of salt. Cook until tender, remove and place in a bowl.

Finely chop the parsley, tarragon and mint together and place in a bowl with the juice of half a lemon. Add the capers and balsamic vinegar to the mixture before adding the oil, salt and pepper and mustard to taste and stir well.

Remove the artichokes from the pan and place in another pan/bowl of iced water for 1-2 minutes in order to stop cooking immediately and to avoid discolouring.

Remove the fibrous choke from the middle of the artichokes and trim the top edges for presentation purposes.

Place upside down on a dish or plate and drizzle with oil before placing the artichokes the right way up on a grill/griddle for a few seconds until the bottom of the artichokes are scored with a criss cross.

On a serving dish, place some of the beans in the middle and drizzle with the vinaigrette. Place one of the artichokes on top and add more beans and vinaigrette. Place the other artichoke on top again followed by the remaining beans. Spoon the remaining vinaigrette over and around the artichokes.

Add some Parmesan shavings and season with ground black pepper.

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