![]() ![]() With a sharp knife, remove the spiky tip of the artichoke, then cut it where the base meets the stalk. Leave the two lemon halves in the water to use to rub the cleaned artichokes, and your hands, too.įirst, remove the outer leaves, until you reach the pale softer ones. This will prevent the artichokes from browning, as they are rich in iron and oxidize quickly once cut. Start with a large bowl of acidulated water-that simply means squeezing the juice of a lemon into it. ![]() If you have fresh parsley, you can use that, too. Calamint, known in Italy as nepitella or mentuccia, is incidentally my favourite herb, something in between mint and oregano, an herb that we use for artichokes, eggplants and mushrooms. This said, if you do not have fresh herbs, opt for dry mint, but halve the quantity, otherwise it might be overpowering. This is why now I almost give fresh herbs for granted when I cook, and why you can find them in every other recipe I share. It was my task, as a child, to run outside to fetch sprigs of fresh herbs for my mum when she was cooking. I tend to use fresh herbs in most of my recipes, even when I am baking or preserving, as I grew up with lavish bushes of rosemary and sage just outside the kitchen door, or patches of delicate parsley and the most intoxicating basil growing in the vegetable garden in the summer. If you have Pecorino Romano, or an aged pecorino Toscano, that would work, too. If it is difficult for you to find good ricotta, you can substitute it with the same amount of cottage cheese, or even sour cream. I grated some Parmigiano Reggiano, too, as I like to add a sharp cheese along with the ricotta to give an extra kick. As for the cheeses used in this recipe, the ricotta gives texture to the filling, almost like in a quiche. This recipe works with zucchini, broccoli, carrots, butternut squash, fresh peas, cubed and fried eggplants, wedges of caramelised fennel and so on and so forth: this is how versatile it is, so no excuse, you can make it with whatever you have in your fridge. Same can be said for canned artichoke hearts. Use about 10 hearts, and cook them with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and a splash of white wine to give them some flavour, then let them cool down and add them to the ricotta just like in the following recipe. After an overnight rest in the fridge, you can fill it up with your favourite ingredients, or with what you have to use not to waste it. In my case, it was fresh artichokes, some ricotta left from a video recipe, some milk close to its expiring date and fresh herbs.Ī few words about the ingredients of this artichoke and ricotta tart If you cannot find fresh artichokes, don’t panic. And it’s a way to bring a little comfort in the kitchen.Īs I told you in the last post, a buttery pie dough is what you can use to make your tarts, or savoury galettes, as you can simply prepare it with a few basic ingredients: butter, flour, salt and water. In these days of lockdown, when you are forced to cook with a limited amount of ingredients, a savoury tart is the answer to use whatever you have left in your fridge, or in the pantry. Comforting meals, as you always know what to expect, their flavour, the reassuring smell wafting invitingly from the kitchen, saying: you’re home, you’re safe now. It’s the same feeling of when I crave for my mum’s potato cheese savoury pie, something she would make every week, from September till May, just to substitute it with a tuna loaf during the summer months. ![]() This is because his mum used to make it often for dinner, a quick, weeknight meal made with store bought puff pastry. When I ask Tommaso what he wants for dinner, his usual answer is a quiche, with some eggs, milk, maybe sautéed zucchini or prosciutto cotto. ![]()
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