L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 30 L'Italo-Americano Others only find them occa- sionally at farmers markets. I advise you to be oppor- tunistic and buy artichokes when you find them fresh, with green stems and tightly packed leaves. When arti- chokes are fresh, the leaves m a k e a s q u e a k i n g n o i s e w h e n s q u e e z e d t o g e t h e r . Avoid artichokes that have opened, or that have dry or s p l i t l e a v e s . I f t h e f l o w e r starts to form, the artichoke will be full of choke and the leaves will be stringy, tough and virtually inedible. If you are an artichoke l o v e r , y o u w i l l a d o r e t h i s recipe. Tender boiled arti- c h o k e s b a k e d i n a n e g g , Parmigiano and milk batter and dotted with mozzarella. It's perfect for spring picnics and a good starting point for your artichoke adventures, as boiled artichokes are easi- er to handle than when raw. This recipe reminds me so much of my mother that I can hardly bring myself to write about it. It brings back happy memories, as this was one of her favorite dish- e s f o r p i c n i c s . M y m u m w o u l d n e v e r b r i n g s a n d - wiches or salads for a day trip. Instead, she loaded the car with lasagna, eggplant parmigiana and sformato di carciofi. Also, we would not eat on the ground. We had a small folding table with a miniature tablecloth and real forks and knives. As a child, I felt like a queen to e a t t h a t w o n d e r f u l f o o d under the Spring sun. Ingredients Serves 8 as an appetizer, 6 as a vegetarian main • 8 artichokes • 6 eggs • 1 0 0 g ( 3 o z ) g r a t e d Parmigiano cheese • 200 g (7 oz) mozzarella or cow's milk caciotta thinly sliced • salt and black pepper to taste • 2 tablespoons fine breadcrumbs • 1 tablespoon butter • 1/2 lemon To boil the artichokes : Select a pot large enough to hold all the artichokes. Half fill it with water and set it over a high heat to boil. You need enough water for the flowers to float freely. Add the artichokes and the juice of half a lemon to the boiling water. Also add the squeezed lemon to the pan. This prevents the artichokes f r o m t u r n i n g a n o d d turquoise color while cook- ing. Boil for 15 to 30 min- utes. The cooking time depends very much on the size of the flowers. To avoid overcook- ing, you might start to test if they are ready after 15 min- utes. Using tongs, take an arti- choke from the pan, place on a chopping board and pierce it with a paring knife where t h e s t e m a t t a c h e s t o t h e heart. If it's tender, the arti- choke is ready. D r a i n t h e b o i l e d a r t i - chokes and cool them under running water. Pull away the outer tough leaves, trim a couple of cm (1 inch) off the top, peel the stems, quarter the artichokes and then cut the quarters in half again. S c r a p e a w a y t h e c h o k e i f there is any. Cleaning boiled artichokes is a breeze as you can easily tell which ones are the tender petals and which are stringy and inedible. B e a t t h e e g g s w i t h t h e P a r m i g i a n o a n d s e a s o n . Butter a bundt-pan gener- ously, dust it with the bread- crumbs, knocking out the excess. Build up the sforma- to in the pan with layers of artichokes and mozzarella, ending with artichokes. P o u r o v e r t h e e g g a n d g r a t e d c h e e s e m i x t u r e , sprinkle with an extra table- spoon or two of Parmigiano and bake at 200°C (390°F) until set and golden. L e t i z i a M a t t i a c c i i s a cookbook author and owner of Alla Madonna del Piatto C o o k i n g S c h o o l a n d A g r i t u r i s m o i n A s s i s i , U m b r i a , h t t p s : / / i n c a m - pagna.com. This recipe has been previously published in Mrs. Mattiacci cookbook entitled "Festa Italiana." Artichokes are as iconic of Italy as the Colosseum, the cliffs of Positano and —of course — a ride in a FIAT 500 Continued from page 28 Sliced sformato di carciofi (Photo: Letizia Mattiacci) LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES A Roman artichoke (Photo: Letizia Mattiacci)

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