Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

This is a super fast dessert: whip some cream and fold in some grated dark chocolate, cannot really see it much as it blends with the cream but the taste will be like a light chocolate mousse. Then top with strawberries and raspberries. So much better than those packaged instant whipped desserts! And now for something that takes a little longer, but taste really good: artichoke risotto. I only had two artichokes and needed a meal for 4 people, and risotto was the ideal solution. Clean the artichokes and remove the outer leaves. Peel the stalks and cut into small pieces. Put everything in water with lemon juice while you work or the artichokes will become black. Finely chop a handful of parsley with a couple of garlic cloves and add salt. Stuff the artichokes with the chopped garlic and parsley and add a drizzle of olive oil. Place in a casserole, together with the stalks, and add 5cm of water. Simmer on low with the lid on for one hour or until cooked (the outer leaves will start...

These type of artichokes are called mammole,  the 'petals' are rounded and not as spiky like for  carciofi . But they are excellent cooked  alla romana . Cut the outer petals off until you get to the tender heart, leave a bit of the stalks, but peel them, and then immediately put them in water and lemon (so that they don't become black) to wash them. Finely chop plenty of Italian parsley with garlic and a pinch of salt, and use this to fill the centre of each artichoke. Place the artichokes in a pot, drizzle some olive oil in the centre of each artichoke and add a little water at the bottom of the pan (about 2 fingers). Cover with a lid and simmer on low for a long time (1-2 hours) adding water from time to time. Sorry I didn't take a photo of the final product, but you can find one  here . Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

I have to say that the ingredients and cooking method are very similar to mine (and my mother's). We call it Roman style, possibly because both my Mum and my Aunt learned to make this in Rome (and I learned from them). But there are two main differences between my usual recipe which I always make in New Zealand (recipe  here ) and this one, simply due to ... availability!!! In NZ artichokes are still rare and quite expensive, so when I get a few I cook them with all the hard outer leaves (to be scraped with teeth at the table until you reach the heart) while here in Italy artichokes abound and so we can discard the outer leaves and cook only the tender hearts.  The other difference is that while I cooked the whole artichokes " flower side up ", the artichokes hearts with stalks are cooked "flower side down", and in this way you can leave a bit of the stalk in too, they are yummy and tender! All you need to do is to: Clean very well the ar...

The other day I posted  this way of cooking artichokes  ( alla romana , Roman style) because it is the best way for me... and because we only had 4 artichokes :-). Then Sandra and John gave us 14 artichokes, 4 we gave to friends who came to visit us on Sunday, and 10 (a real luxury in NZ) I cooked yesterday. Loredana  suggested that I fill them with bread, egg, cheese and parsley (and maybe garlic) and I wanted to try.  I prepared 5  my usual way  but also added some fresh basil leaves because I didn't have enough parsley, then I kept a bit of the chopped herbs and garlic aside and added one egg, some breadcrumbs and some grated parmesan. I made 5 'balls' and pressed them inside the artichokes. Topped with olive oil, added water at the bottom, and simmered everything for a couple of hours. Ready! 5 of us for dinner, so one of each type for everyone, and we really liked them.  Photos and Re...

Kazuyo  gave me 4 artichokes, so we got one each and I cooked them  alla romana,  the   best way to make a few artichokes go a long way. Cut the spikes off, and the stalks and then immediately put the artichokes in water and lemon (so that they don't become black) to wash them. Finely chop plenty of Italian parsley with garlic and a pinch of salt, and use this to fill the centre of each artichoke. Place the artichokes side up in a pot, drizzle some olive oil in the centre of each artichoke and add a little water at the bottom (about 2 fingers). Cover with a lid and simmer on low for a long time (1-2 hours) adding water from time to time. The artichokes are ready when the leaves easily detach with your fingers.  This is Vegan and Gluten Free To eat the artichokes remove the harder outer leaves with your fingers and just scrape the flesh off with your teeth (keep a bowl on the side to discard the used leaves) until you get to the h...

Since recently there has been some  talk  about bloggers' getting payed or sponsored, I better just say that I didn't get payed, not receive canned tomatoes for writing this :-).  As it happens tomatoes are not in season in New Zealand (you can buy them, of course, but they taste bad, are very expensive, and I don't know where they come from). So I use Italian canned tomatoes from Mutti. As a matter of fact I have been using Mutti since I left Italy, when I could find it, that is! It was ok in London, more difficult in Japan, and now I can get it in New Zealand and my pantry is a bit like the one of an Italian immigrant: dry pasta and canned tomatoes better came from Italy! For this pizza slab I used the canned cherry tomatoes. I made the base (recipe  here ) but also added a tbsp of wheat gluten (these days I find that High grade flour is not 'strong' enough for making pizza). After 2-3 hours I rolled the dough on a large baking tray, then...

Photo by Alessandra Zecchini© In the freezer I had some artichokes which I had cooked alla romana , with garlic and parsley (you can find the recipe, which appeared on Cuisine Magazine , by clicking here ). They needed to be used, so I defrost them, remove the outer leaves and scraped the flesh out with a knife (lots of work!) I set the flesh aside, collected the juices from the defrosted artichokes (they had made quite a bit of broth), and gently simmered the hearts again in their juices with some tofu cubes. The tofu soaked up the artichoke flavour nicely. Once all the water was absorbed I served the tofu ad artichokes hearts with some steamed carrots and boiled new potatoes, and the artichoke sauce made by heating up the artichoke flesh and adding a little olive oil.

Photo by Alessandra Zecchini © Ingredients 2 artichokes Lemon juice 2 garlic cloves, peeled 1 cup Italian parsley Salt to taste Extra Virgin Olive oil 1 shallot 500 g arborio rice 500 ml vegetable stock 5 yellow baby zucchini (as small as a finger) with flower still attached Calendula petals to decorate Serve 6 Cook the artichokes one day earlier. In a bowl filled with water and lemon juice wash the artichokes and cut out a few of the hardest leaves (petals). Finely chop the garlic cloves with the parsley and a little salt and then use to stuff the artichokes. Place in a small saucepan, drizzle with olive oil and cover halfway through with water. Simmer until the outer leaves easily detach from the heart, adding water from time to time if necessary. The water will make a lovely broth. The day after scrape all the flesh from the hardest outer leaves and place in a small saucepan with the artichoke hearts and their water (discard the hard bits). Mush flesh and hearts with a wooden spoon,...

I picked some wonderful artichokes from the Slow Food Waitakere communal gardens, yum!! Usually I like to cook them alla romana , with garlic and parsley (you can find the recipe, which appeared on Cuisine Magazine , by clicking here ) and I was happy to see that the recipe has been picked up by another New Zealand blogger, Arfi of HomeMadeS , here is her recipe So my artichokes, cut and cleaned with water and lemon, and stuffed with chopped garlic, parsley, salt and olive oil, were ready for the pot. Then I remembered my friend Enza from Io da Grande who posted a Sicilian recipe on an Italian Food Forum...but I could not remember the name of the recipe, just that it was very similar but with the addition of (I think) breadcrumbs. And so I did. I simmered the artichokes slowly, adding water little by little to the bottom of the pot, until the outer leaves were easy to pull off by hand. We ate them with gusto, it was the very first taste of this vegetable for my father in law, visiti...