Filled Artichokes - Carciofi Ripieni

Filled artichokes | Carciofi ripieni

Artichokes are one of the oldest cultivated vegetables, early as the 5th century BC.
Artichoke comes from the Venetian word "articiocco". The name in Venetian is "articiocco" ("arti" means high and "ciocco" means stump) and is from Arabic al-hursufa "artichoke. In Italian the name is "carciofo".

Artichokes are very popular in Italy.
I love artichokes; they are very digestible and light and can be cooked in so many different ways. This is a slow-cooked stove-top dish! I love to stuff with a tasty mixture of breadcrumbs, and parmigiano.


INGREDIENTS (serves 4)
4 mamme romane (globe artichokes)
juice of an organic lemon
fine sea salt



for the filling
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
6 tbsp dried breadcrumbs
a handful of fresh Italian parsley, roughly chopped
50 g of Parmigiano Reggiano (aged 24 months) finely grated
freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS
First clean and prepare the artichokes: using a very sharp knife, remove the outer leaves   and cut off the stalks (keep going through the layers until you reach the greenish-yellow leaves). Trim the base so the bottom is flat and the artichoke can stand upright. With your fingers, open out the artichoke leaves until you can see the hairy choke (remove and discard the hairy choke). As you prepare each artichoke, rub all of its with one of the squeezed lemon halves, then place in the big bowl of lemony water in order to prevent discoloration while you prepare the filling.

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large saucepan, add the 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped) and a tablespoons of fresh parsley (chopped) until the smell is nice (the coulour must be translucent not brown). Remove and set aside.

To make the filling,
Add the remaining garlic in another bowl and combine with the remaining parsley, parmesan, black pepper and 4 tbsp of evoo.

Remove the artichokes from the lemony water and turn them upside down to drain.

Open them up and fill the cavity with the mixture; tie with string to ensure the filling does not fall out (be careful).
Place in the large saucepan the artichokes. Sprinkle the artichokes with a little fine sea salt, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and fill the pan with water to come halfway up the artichokes.
Put the large saucepan on a medium–high heat and bring to the boil, then immediately reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and simmer gently for 45 minutes (till they are soft).

Serve one per person, with a little of the juice from the saucepan.

And don’t forget to eat the potato and carrot.

Buon Appetito!