Carciofi alla Giudia
Whole artichokes fried twice until the leaves open and crisp like petals.
Vegan.
Ingredients
- 8 globe artichokes, with stems
- 2 lemons
- 1 litre olive oil, for deep frying, which is poured off
- flaky salt
- black pepper
Method
- Trim each artichoke by turning it against the knife, taking off the hard outer leaves until you reach the pale ones. Trim the stem to 5 cm and peel it. Cut the top third off straight across.
- Drop them into water with lemon squeezed in as you go, or they blacken within minutes.
- Open the leaves by pressing each artichoke crown-down against a board, firmly, so it splays. Shake out any water and DRY THEM COMPLETELY — they are about to go into deep oil.
- Season inside the leaves with salt and pepper.
- FIRST FRY, 140C, stem up, 10 minutes. This is cooking the heart through and nothing else; they will still be pale.
- Lift them out and press them crown-down on paper again to open them further. Rest 10 minutes.
- SECOND FRY, 180C, crown down, 2 to 3 minutes. The leaves stiffen and go the colour of autumn. This is the fry that makes them, and at a single temperature you get either a raw heart or burnt leaves and never both right.
- Drain crown-down, salt heavily, and eat within minutes.
Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.
Filed under Italy · All recipes