French Market Recipe 2024 39
Artichauts violets rotis
Roasted violet artichokes
Ingredients for 2
- 4 violet artichokes
- 1 small onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 fresh lemon
- 200g lardons (small chunks of bacon)
- Few sprigs of thyme
- Spoonful of olive oil
- 500ml of dry cider
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Wax cooking paper to cover top of saucepan
Directions:
- Wash and chop the parsley
- Peel and slice onions
- Skin, chop, crush garlic cloves
- Chop bacon into small pieces
- Warm olive oil in heavy based saucepan, add bacon, onion and garlic and fry lightly
- Prepare a bowl of water and squeeze in juice of half a lemon
- Slice off top of artichokes until you see the yellow heart
- Remove outer coarse green leaves until you can see the leaves are yellow half way down cut as much of the hard leaves off
- Immediately place sliced artichoke into bowl of lemon water to avoid it going brown
- After all artichokes leaves have been trimmed, peel the outer layer of the stem of each artichoke and return to the lemon water
- Then slice each artichoke in half lengthways, if very large slice in quarters and return to water
- Use a teaspoon to dig out the thistle part (dry spiky bits) at centre of artichoke underneath the heart.
- Return to lemon water each time you have worked with the artichokes
- Once all artichokes ready, drain off water and put artichokes in the saucepan with bacon and onions, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper.
- Pour the cider over the artichokes
- Place the wax paper across top of artichokes to stop them oxidising, place lid on pot.
- Simmer over a gentle heat for about 45 minutes until the stalks are tender
Serve the artichokes topped with the sauce and all the ingredients that they were cooked in. This dish can be served as a starter or as a side vegetable dish to a roast meat. Pair with a glass of chilled brut cider.
Bon Appétit!