Carciofi alla Toscana
Late winter or early spring? Either way, I love this time of year. Even though there are a few weeks left of winter, tender leaves and shoots are springing up around the city blocks, my yard, and local farms. Plum and magnolia trees are starting to bloom, a silent pink reminder that the rain will eventually end. Last week, the Heirloom Organics farmers brought to market tender young heads of baby escarole, beautifully streaked
french Heirloom Radishes, and the ultimate early treat,
baby artichokes from the Central Coast of California. Usually these aren't around
until March or later.
You will want to select small, tightly closed artichokes-- a hole or gaping leaves in the center top is a bad sign.
All artichokes require some prep work, but the babies are easiest of all because the centers aren't tough or bristly enough to bother removing. You will notice that many recipes using artichokes call for soaking them in lemon water, but few explain why. By trimming the chokes and soaking them in lemon water, you are both loosening dirt that may have settled between the leaves (think leeks) and preventing them from browning. Useful whether you plan to bake, fry, steam or saute them (as in this recipe).
If you have full-size artichokes, you can still use them, but you must remove the spiky choke.
Nothing beats being able to pop the entire caramelized baby artichoke in your mouth, though. And after bad experiences with steaming large artichokes for hours and having them still be tough....it's a joy to cook them this way.
As Mario Batali promises in the head notes of this recipe, "you will never taste anything that expresses its intense flavor so clearly as these little chokes."
Tuscan-Style Artichokes/Carciofi alla Toscana
adapted from Mario Batali's Molto Italiano
I am convinced it would be good with only salt, paper and olive oil, though.
1 lemon, halved
16 baby artichokes
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp.each dried basil and sage
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
salt
1. Pour 8 cups of cold water into a large bowl and squeeze the juice of the lemon into it. Remove the tougher outer leaves from each artichoke and trim about 1/2 inch off the top of each one. Cut each lengthwise in half, and drop into the lemon water.
2. Heat a 10" to 12" saute pan [I think the cast iron skillet is the best thing that ever happened to artichokes!] over medium-high heat, then add the olive oil and heat until smoking. Meanwhile, drain the artichokes well and press between two kitchen towels to remove almost all the water (not all of it).
3. Taking care to not let the sputter hit you, add the artichokes to the smoking oil and toss quickly to sear. The recipe did not warn me about this, but obviously if you adding the chokes with some water between the leaves to hot smoking oil, it is going to furiously sputter for a while! Watch out! When the sputter subsides, add the garlic, dried herbs and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the artichokes are tender and slightly crisp at the edges. This takes about 8-10 minutes - look for the carmelization in the photo at the top of the post. Season with salt, and serve at room temperature.
