Italian filled artichoke recipe from the Lake Garda region

Posted on by Red Darter

This family recipe has been passed through generations until it reached me. It comes from the Lake Garda region and I hope you try it out.
Ingredients (per person)
•  1 large globe artichoke
•  50g /1¾oz breadcrumbs
•  20g/ ¾oz finely grated Parmesan
•  finely chopped parsley
•  a pinch of salt (not too much as the Parmesan is already salty)
•  freshly ground black pepper
•  2 pressed garlic cloves
•  extra virgin olive oil

Method
Wash the artichoke, cut off the stem and slice off the top third of the artichoke with a knife.

In a bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs, parmesan, chopped parsley, salt, pepper and pressed garlic cloves.
Then slowly add the olive oil trickling it into the bowl, until you have a lightly brown, unctuous mixture.

With a teaspoon, fill the mixture into the space at the base of each leaf, starting from the outside working towards the centre. Artichokes can be a bit sturdy, so you might need to apply some force at the beginning to create space between the leaves to spoon in the mixture.

Now that the artichoke is filled, prepare a pan with ca. 5cm (2 inches) of water, add a pinch of salt and place the artichoke into the pan. Also add the stem, which can be eaten too. The water should just come up to half the height of the artichoke.
Bring the water to the boil, then lower the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for ca. 30 – 40 minutes. The artichoke is ready when you can pull a leaf from the outside without resistance.

If you like, you can then put the artichoke into the oven for 3 to 4 minutes, to achieve browned tops and dry the mixture if necessary, but it can also be eaten right after the 30-40 minutes of cooking on the hob.

To eat the artichoke, start from the outside, remove each leaf with your fingers and eat them using your hands. You can eat the bottom two-thirds of the leaf and the filling. The further inside the artichoke, the more of each leaf is edible, as the inner leaves are softer than the ones on the outside.

Then you will reach the artichoke heart (or ‘fond’), which as you can see in the picture below, contains the ‘choke’ which resembles hay (and should not be eaten).

Remove the artichoke hay with a spoon and eat the whole artichoke heart that remains. The fond can be eaten plain, or dressed with a little olive oil.

P.s. while eating, your hands will be covered in food, so best to have a bowl of water ready on the table with disposable napkins. Happy cooking!

Growing plants from seeds

Posted on by Red Darter

Today is the day I am planting the seedlings I have grown on my window ledge, onto the terrace!

But let’s start from the beginning.

You need to know that I bumped into this whole seed-growing experience a bit by accident. It would be true to say I almost sleep-walked into it, as I maundered into the  local corner shop and, on a whim bought a small plant propagator and some seeds.

My mum has a big garden at home in Italy and she truly has green fingers, so I grew up surrounded by stunning flowers and plants all my life, but I was never really ‘responsible’ for them – besides for a week or two when my parents went on holiday and put me in charge of watering the garden (always equipped with detailed instructions on what to water and how).

BUT this time it will be different.

I want to grow plants with almost no budget and make my room and the garden I share with my flatmates, nicer than it is now.

So, as I said, I bought this propagator and planted Indian cress, sunflower, lupines, pansy, and rosemary seeds into biodegradable pots.

Then there was the BIG WAIT and for ten days NOTHING HAPPENED.

You must imagine me coming home from work every evening, looking for a glimpse of a plant, but Noothing had changed!!

My excitement waned quickly over the course of a week and I started to think that the £7 I’d spent, had been a waste of money.

So, when I had already given up, I sat down next to the window sill and looked at the propagator, thinking “this isn’t going to work, is it?”

and THAT’s when I found myself jumping up on my feet and making a high-pitched noise of JOY!!

BECAUSE THERE IT WAS: the first seedling had just appeared!

 [Seedling Nr.1]

A week later, more seedlings developed and started to look like friendly creatures, turning which-ever way the sun was shining at them:

[Indian cress, with sunflowers and lupines in the background]

The plants are now bigger and my boyfriend has started to look at them, saying “when are they ready to get out?” – out of the room, I guess he means…

Well, follow my next post and you will see what a nice new home these little ruckers are getting.

** Update to follow soon**

Related articles