Carciofi alla Ziettona

Globe artichoke with black olives capers and extra virgin olive oil

Artichokes or carciofi as I would like to call them are widely used in Italy. As most people know how to skin, clean and cook this wonderful vegetable.

When Lilly and I lived and worked in Italy we would shop at the local market every Monday. Il Mercato in Marigliano is set up from 5.30 am in the morning until 2.00 pm every Monday.

The trip to the Market was our weekly dose of fresh produce, laughter, trying various cold cuts, cheese, bread and cooked legumes, plus all the bargaining we would indulge in to buy anything we liked.

Carmine the local trader that my aunt had been buying from for a long time, even when my grandmother was alive, would always put a bunch of artichokes aside for us. It was the highlight of the Monday shopping, I could not wait to get home and cook them. We used some for pasta some for frittura and the rest for marinating.

Method for cleaning and washing the artichokes

Trim the artichokes of all their tough leaves, this includes trimming and cutting the top of the stem.

Once you have cleaned the artichokes cut them in quarters and with a sharp knife remove some of the furry bits at the bottom of the stem, this is the Peluria that can actually choke you as hundreds and thousands of furry filaments get lodged in your throat

Once Cleaned place them in a bowl filled with water, and lemons cut in halves.

Ingredients

Artichoke hearts quartered

3 garlic cloves

2 tablespoon of capers

1 cup of black olives

A small handful of pine-nuts

Freshly ground pepper

Salt

½ Glass white wine

½ cup parsley chopped

A good handful of pecorino Romano

Method

Place a large double bottom saucepan on the heat and add extra virgin olive oil, throw in the garlic and sauté until fragrant, remove the garlic and add the black olives, capers and artichoke quarters and cook for a few minutes, add the pine-nuts, simmer for a minute or two.

Add ½ glass of white wine and let evaporate. Cover and cook on a gentle flame for about 12 minutes, checking every few minutes to make sure there is enough liquid to keep the artichoke cooking and moist. Just before they are done, season with the salt, grind a fair amount of pepper and throw in the parsley chopped.

Place a pot with salted water on the stove and once it starts to boil cook you favourite short pasta, I prefer Rigatoni with this sauce, 3 minutes prior to draining the pasta take a ladle-full of water and add to the sauce, strain the pasta and add to the simmering sauce, let it finish cooking together. Add the pecorino and serve at once with a good grinding of pepper.

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