Boil or steam artichoke in a large stock pot until tender, about 25-30 minutes.
Drain artichoke and let cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add cooking fat and finely chopped onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and a little browned, about 10 minutes. Add spinach and cook until wilted, about 2-3 minutes (longer if you substitute a more substantial leaf). Set aside and let cool.
Pulse cooled bacon slices in a food processor until you have some awesome homemade bacon bits (you could also chop by hand). Set aside.
This step accomplished two things: you remove the inner leaves for scraping the meat off for the filling and you create the artichoke boats to fill. If you are a stuffed artichoke pro, use whatever method you like the best. For people less familiar with the inner workings of the artichoke, here are two options.
Option 1: Using a sharp knife (I like to use a serrated knife), cut a ½” deep circle around the artichoke about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom (for rounder artichokes, slice half way). This cuts the top half off the outer leaves, which you will leave attached to the heart and stem to make the boats. Pull the inner leaves off and set aside. You want to leave about a 4 leaf thick layer around the outside to form the boat. Careful as you get close to the heart because those little leaves can be sharp. When you get to the spiky hairy middle at the heart of the artichoke, use a spoon or a knife to gently scrape the hairy stuff off the heart and discard. Now, use a spoon to scrape the meat off the inside and bottom of every leaf and put into a bowl (the middle leaves before they get too small have the most meat). Also scrape the top bit of the heart off inside the boat and add to the meat in your bowl (careful not to scrape too much of the heart way or else your boat will fall apart). Cut the stem to be flush with the bottom leaves of your boat (if the stem is tender, you can chop it up and add it to the meat in your bowl).
Option 2: Using a sharp knife, cut the top 2/3 off the artichoke (the top ½ for rounder artichokes). Some of the leaf tops that you cut off will be tender enough to scrape some meat off with a fork. Now, pull out the inner leaves (it helps to pry with a knife to get started) and proceed as in option #1. The advantage to this option is that it’s a little easier to see what you’re doing in terms of pulling out the leaves and leaving enough behind for a good boat. The disadvantage is that it’s a bit harder to scrape the meat off half leaves compared to whole ones.
Place the artichoke boats on a baking sheet lined with tin foil (alternately, you could grease a baking sheet). Preheat oven to 375F.
If there are any big pieces of heart meat or stem meat in your bowl, chop the artichoke meat (or mash with a potato masher).
Mix cooled artichoke meat, sautéed onion and spinach together in a bowl. Mix in bacon fat mayo.
Spoon mixture into each boat (they will be filled somewhere between ¾ of the way and all the way to the top, depending on how tender your artichokes were and exactly where you cut the leaves). Spread to the edges.
Sprinkle homemade bacon bits on the top of each stuffed artichoke (about 1 Tbsp per artichoke).
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until bubbly around the edges.
Recipe by The Paleo Mom at https://www.thepaleomom.com/recipe-artichoke-stuffed-artichoke/