Roman-style artichokes

This is the spring side dish of Roman cooking, when the round, thornless “mammole” artichokes arrive. They are cooked whole, stem up, in oil and a little water: in the end the cooking juices become a fragrant dressing.

Ingredients for 4

• 8 Roman artichokes (mammole) with a piece of stem
• A bunch of wild mint (nepitella)
• A bunch of parsley
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 lemons
• IL CONTE Blend, about 100 ml
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Fill a bowl with cold water and the juice of one lemon. Clean the artichokes by removing the tough outer leaves until you reach the pale, tender ones; shorten the stem to 4–5 cm and peel it. Open the centre and remove any choke. Drop them into the lemon water as you go so they do not darken.
2. Finely chop the mint, parsley and garlic, season with salt and pepper and add 2 tablespoons of oil.
3. Drain the artichokes and fill the centre and the gaps between the leaves with the mixture.
4. Stand them upside down, stems up, in a tall pot where they fit snugly. Pour in the remaining oil and water to about a third of the artichokes’ height, and salt.
5. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 30–40 minutes, until tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm with their juices.

The right oil

For slow cooking use the Blend, the oil made for everyday cooking: with the water and herbs it forms the juices you mop up with bread.

Photo: C. Shen, Wikimedia Commons, licence CC BY-SA 3.0.