Stuffed Artichokes

INGREDIENTS
2 lemons
3 artichokes
3 cups fresh bread crumbs
3/4 cups grated Romano
3 tablespoons garlic, minced
3/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 1/2 cups olive oil
Salt
Pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. Grate the zest of 1 of the lemons set aside. Squeeze the juice from 1/2 of the zested lemon into a large bowl filled halfway with cold water. Set aside. Juice the remaining 1 1/2 lemons and reserve the juice.
2. Cut the stems off of the artichokes and clip all the pointy tips plus the top 1/4 of the artichoke.
3. Using your fingers, gently pry the leaves apart to reveal the inner choke and, using a spoon, scoop out some of the inner leaves and the fuzzy choke and discard. This should leave a pretty big hole in the center of each artichoke for stuffing. Put the artichoke in the lemon water bowl then repeat with the remaining artichokes.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the bread crumbs, lemon zest, Romano, garlic, basil, 3 tablespoons of the lemon juice, and about 3/4 cup of the olive oil. Add 1/2 cup of warm water and mix thoroughly. The crumb stuffing should be moist enough to clump together. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Remove the artichokes from the lemon water and turn over to let it drain. Fill the center of the artichokes with the stuffing, pressing downward as you add the stuffing. You can also stuff some of the large outer leaves. Drizzle each artichoke with a about a tablespoon of olive oil.
6. In a large saucepan place the artichokes, stem side down and stuffing up, and add about 1 1/2 inches of cold water; it should come up to the bottom of where the leaves begin. Add any remaining lemon juice and olive oil.
7. Cover the pot and bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and continue to cook, covered, until the leaves pull away easily from the artichokes and the heart is tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 35 to 40 minutes. Carefully remove the artichokes from the pot and set aside to cool slightly.
8. Serve the artichokes with your favorite Italian salad dressing. Or for those weirdos out there I guess you can serve it with some mayo (barf!).