In his notebooks Leonardo da Vinci reports,
“my lord Ludovico tells me I am to devise a way whereby to eat artichokes without spitting out onto the table nine-tenths of what one places in one’s mouth. The way is simple, the leaves are cut from the fruit before the meal – leaving just the base of artichoke, all of which is edible and none of which has need of spitting”
What do you do if you cannot find artichoke hearts in olive oil, or ready-roasted at the deli? Simples….
Recipe for turning pig’s ear tinned or frozen artichokes in silk purse deli-style artichokes
Ingredients
- 500g frozen (and thawed) or tinned artichoke hearts
- juice and zest of a lemon
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- small bunch of thyme, stripped and roughly chopped
- smoked salt and Indonesian long pepper
Method
- Preheat oven to 210ºC.
- Drain artichokes and put in a roasting tin or ovenproof dish.
- Add everything else except the zest to the artichokes.
- Cook for about half an hour.
- Sprinkle over the zest.
Some things to do with artichoke hearts:
- add to a cream sauce and serve with scallopine of veal
- add to tagliatelle with Parma ham and peas
- make a salad with capers, roasted red peppers, and a vinaigrette with half a teaspoon of patum peperium
- with chicken and mushrooms
- ABC vegetables
- snappy, earthy green salad
- good with Cacio e Pepe spaghetti
Want more recipes for artichokes? Follow this link, or head off to R & J Mazza’s great site.
Are you a massive fan of artichokes?
Treat yourself to one of these beautiful cushions by the prisoners supplying the Cell Works range.
