The Roman artichoke is a classic that deserves a introduction, essential to fill the gaps of the less prepared.
In Rome there are two ways of cooking artichokes:
1) The Jewish artichoke, fried, incredibly fried;
2) Roman-style artichoke, stuffed, fried in oil with the addition of water;
As we say in the Old Capital “both are delicious”
And for this reason we prepare a Roman artichoke like the Giudia artichoke.
Ingredients
- 2 artichokes
- 1 anchovy (or anchovy paste)
- 3 slices of bread loaf
- 10 roman mint leaves (lesser calamint or nepitella, regular mint is too strong)
- a few parsley leaves
- lemon peel
- 1/2 garlic
- 10 grams of parmesan (or pecorino)
- extra virgin olive oil.
- Pepper
The most complicated thing about artichokes is certainly cleaning the artichokes: remove the outer leaves until you have eliminated the purple part. Clean the stem by removing the external part. Also remove the internal beard with the appropriate scoop and place the cleaned artichokes in a basin with water and lemon. You have to be Taliban with artichokes… clean them well!
Also cut the stem so that you can cook the artichoke even with the flower facing upwards. (obviously you won’t have to throw away the stem which can be cooked).
Prepare a mixture of garlic, lemon peel, anchovy, mint and parsley. Put everything in the cutter with the bread loaf, the grated parmesan, some pepper and oil.
Take the artichoke and stuff it with the filling, pressing it well.
Take a tall, narrow pan and pour plenty of oil into it (one finger). Fry the artichoke over medium heat for 3/4 minutes (I fry it a lot because this way it also becomes crunchy), first downwards, then turning it upwards to prevent the contents from dispersing due to the merciless force of gravity. Salt and pepper lightly. Pour a glass of water firmly until you reach half the artichoke.
Cover with a layer of baking paper and a lid. Cook for about 20 minutes over medium heat until the artichoke is fork tender.
At this point, plate the artichoke, let the sauce cook for a few more minutes, and eat it.
AMAZING!!
Last Image from C. Shein– under Creative Common Attribution, more info on the image and terms on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carciofi_alla_Romana.jpg