Carciofi alla Romana
Artichokes roman style
The romans adore artichokes, and especially two recipes can be found at almost all their restaurants, Carciofi alla Romana and Carciofi alla Giudea.
Artichokes is an institution in Rome, and there are few vegetables more beloved in the Eternal City. It has been a part of the peasant cooking tradition all the way back to ancient Rome.
The key to a good Carciofi alla Romana is of cause the artichoke itself, and good quality is essential. I have bought several artichokes, where I after cleaning them had to abandon the project, since 80% of it’s internal part consisted of ‘hair’. It is a bit of a lottery, but I guess the romans have better chances at one of their many marked places.
The best artichoke for this dish is the violet roman ones.
If you cannot get fresh artichokes, buy some whole canned ones, they can give a good result. And they are cleaned already.
Ingredients
4 persons
Preparing time : 45 min.
4 persons
- 8 Violet roman artichokes
- 1 bunch of mint
- 1 bunch of parsley
- 3 cloves of garlic
- White wine 170 ml
- Water (hot) to taste
- Extra virgin olive oil (quite abundant) to taste
Easy, simple and healthy!
Clean the artichokes, see how below, and pour them into a bowl of cold water. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze some of the juice into the water. Leave the rest of the lemon in the water.
Clean the artichokes as follows:
Cut off the stem so that there is approx. 8-10 cm left. Tear off the first three rows of leaves. Cut the top of the leaves with a sharp knife. Peel the stalk to the white pith. Peel the bottom of the artichoke, leaving only the heart. Look for threads or hairs in the middle of the artichoke, if so remove them with a spoon or a sharp knife.
Leave the artichokes in water with lemon juice to prevent they get discolored. Peel the garlic and chop finely together with the mint and parsley. Stuff a little of this into each artichoke along with salt and pepper.
Place the artichokes tightly, head down, in a small pan with oil on the bottom. Fry them on a low heat for 5 minutes. Pour inn the glass of wine and a little water. Cover with a lid and let them stand over low heat for approx. 25 minutes or until tender.
Tips
Whole canned artichokes will work, if you cannot get good quality artichokes to clean yourself. Just follow the steps by filling them with the herb mix and prepare them as above.