(Artichokes: description, nutritive value, how to clean, cut and cook, recipes ...)
Artichokes
Artichokes: description, nutritive value, how to clean, cut and cook, recipes ...
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Our original home cooking
- - A bread bowl with salami & prosciutto: An original Italian salty tart made with a bread bowl filled with assorted salami that you can serve as a starter
- - Artichoke-and-potato risotto: Artichoke-and-potato risotto. Recipe, menu planning, calories and nutrition facts. Wine or beer with artichokes?
- - Artichoke-and-shrimp quiche recipe: Shrimp-and-artichoke quiche. Ingredients, doses, recipe, nutrition facts and menu planning included.
- - Artichokes and chestnuts: Artichoke-and-chestnut recipe. Vegetarian and vegan dish. Serve it as soup in your daily family menu or as side dish for a special occasion menu.
- - Artichokes in my own way: Artichokes with aromatic herbs. A simple-to-do side dish very rich in fiber that can easily give a sense of satiety. Ideal for people on a diet. Vegetarian, vegan recipe.
- - Artichokes stuffed with asparagus and ricotta: Stuffed artichokes with ricotta and asparagus. A vegetarian dish for foodlovers. Recipe, menu ideas, calories.
- - Baked lasagna without meat: Baked lasagna made with vegetarian sauce whose ingredients are artichokes, asparagus and spinach. Recipe for people with lactose intollerance and milk allergies. Vegetarian recipe.
- - Canapés with mortadella mousse: Canapés with mortadella mousse. Italian starter. Recipe, menu planning, calories, matched wine.
- - Cointreau-flavored risotto with artichokes: Artichoke-and-almond risotto. Italian risotto. Doses, ingredients, how-to, menu idea, calories and paired wine.
- - Cream of tomatoes and Jerusalem artichokes: Low fat recipes -vegetarian cream
- - Four seasons pizza: How to make four season pizza at home
- - Gnocchi recipe with raw wings and artichokes: Gnocchi with ray-and-artichokes sauce. Another gnocchi recipe ideas of Italian cooking. We teach you how to make homemade gnocchi (potato dumplings) with seafood sauce.
- - Large-shrimp-and-artichoke spaghetti: Large-shrimp-and-artichoke-spaghetti. Special Italian pasta recipe with spaghetti alla chitarra. Recipe, menu planning, calories and paired wine.
- - Pasta salad with artichokes and surimi crab s...: Pasta salad with artichokes and surimi. Easy to do and quick summer recipe. Ideal for your family menu or a buffet all year.
- - Pasta salad with buffalo mozzarella: Pasta salad with buffalo mozzarella. A great dish for your summer menus. The recipe includes directions, suggested Italian menu, calories and paired wine.
- - Pasta salad with salmon and artichokes in oil: Pasta salad with smoked salmon and artichokes in oil. Italian cold recipe for your summer party. Directions, menu idea, calories and matched wine
- - Pizza with artichokes: Pizza no tomato with artichokes and cheese. Step by step instrucions to prepare it at home.
- - Pizza with prosciutto and artichokes: Pizza with prosciutto and artichokes. Recipe, menu planning, calories. Ideas for pizza dough and tips to use less mozzarella.
- - Ricotta-and-artichoke tart: Ricotta-and-artichoke tart. Recipe, menu planning, calories. Beer or wine? Starter, buffet, brunch recipe idea.
- - Risotto with artichokes and peas: Risotto with spring flavors: very, very good!
- - Savory cookies for cocktail party: Topped savory cookies for cocktail party, Italian aperitivo, tea party, buffet meal. Recipe, menu planning, calories.
- - Stewed lamb with vegetables: Lamb stew with legumes and vegetables. You can read: its recipe, tips for a successful full menu, nutrition facts, paired wine.
- - Tagiatelle with artichokes and ricotta: Tagliatelle with artichokes and ricotta cheese. Recipe, menu planning, calories. Spring pasta recipe for celebration menu too.
- - Taglierini tossed with artichokes and shrimps: Pasta recipe. Tagliolini tossed with artichoke and shrimp sauce. A tasty main dish for a perfect Italian menu.
- - Vegan risotto with artichokes: Risotto with artichokes. Vegan recipe according to the Mediterranean diet. The ingredients are rice, artichokes, aromatic herbs, leek and beer.
Traditional recipes.
- - Artichoke egg casserole: Artichoke egg casserole. A delicious Italian recipe for your family menus or special events. Recipe, calories and menu planning.
- - Artichoke, asparagus, fava bean and pea soup: Tuscan soup recipe with calories. Menu idea. Main ingredients are spring vegetables: artichokes, aparagus, fava beans and peas.
- - Deep-fried artichokes in batter: Deep-fried artichokes. Ingredients and doses to make this artichoke recipe at home. Nutrition facts of fried artichokes. Menu ideas.
- - Meat-and-vegetable pasta sauce, Tuscany-style: Poderana sauce, typical sauce of Maremma - Tuscany. The main ingredients are artichokes, fava beans, raw ham and sausage. It's a spring recipe, ideal to toss egg pasta or dried pasta.
- - Pizza caprice: Italian pizza with mushrooms, gherkins, olives and mozzarella cheese
- - Stewed vegetables with unsmoked bacon | Ciaud...: Vegetable stew with unsmoked bacon. Recipe of Lucania with artichokes, fava beans, potatoes and onions. Recipe, calories and paired wine
- - Traditional rice salad : Traditional rice salad, Italian-style. Full menu idea too. Tips and tricks to decrease rice salad calories.
ArtichokesNutritive value in 100 g edible part |
||
| Edible part | % | 34% |
| Water | g | 91.3 |
| Protein | g | 2.7 |
| Total fat | g | 0.2 |
| Carbohydrates | g | 2.5 |
| Total dietary fiber | g | 5.5 |
| Food energy | kcal | 22 |
| kJ | 92 | |
| Sodium | mg | 133 |
| Potassium | mg | 376 |
| Iron | mg | 1.0 |
| Calcium | mg | 86 |
| Phosphorus | mg | 67 |
| Thiamin | mg | 0.06 |
| Riboflavin | mg | 0.10 |
| Niacin | mg | 0.50 |
| Vitamin A | µg | 18 |
| Vitamin C | mg | 12 |
The scientific name is: Cynara cardunculus scolymus
Description and cultivation. Cynara cardunculus (artichoke) is a typical plant in Southern Europe around the Mediterranean Sea. Italy is one of the most important producer but artichokes are cultivated in a lot of countries included the United States (California). It's a perennial thistle, 1.5 - 2 m tall with arching, deeply lobed, silvery glaucous-green leaves. The artichoke is the bud of this plant.
Every bud is supported by a stem and contains the heart, a thickened receptacle very tasty to eat. On the top of the heart there is the choke, a mass of immature florets that are inedible in the older, larger artichokes. The choke is surrounded by rows of petals (scientific name: bracts) which protect the heart and are divided into inner and outer. In some varieties the bracts finish with tiny thorns. Look at the photos for more details.
Artichoke varieties. There are a lot of artichoke varieties according to the bract colours, the thorn presence and the size.
In Italy we have the purple, medium-size artichokes from Chioggia or Sant'Erasmo (Venetian region) or from Tuscany or Catania (Siciy).
Among the spined artichokes: a variety from Sardinia, another from Liguria and at last from Palermo (Sicily).
But the well known artichoke is the big purple from Rome (Romanesco or Mammola).
Nutritive value of artichokes. They are very rich in fiber and water and very low in fat, calories and carbo. For these reasons you should choose the artichokes in your weekly diet frequently from March to May when they are available. We remember you a smaller crop is produced also in October. On the contrary in Italy we are able to find them from October to May because the cultivation is very different.
The artichokes have a lot of cynarin. It is located especially in the pulp of the leaves but also in dried leaves and stems. Cynarin increases the bile production, makes easy the digestion, helps the liver function, lowers HDL/LDL ratio. This reduces cholesterol levels, which diminishes the risk for arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease.
How to choose artichokes. Choose artichokes that are dark green, heavy, and have "tight" leaves. Don't select globes that are dry looking or appear to be turning brown. The leaves haven't to be too "open".
How to preserve artichokes. After harvesting they remain quite fresh for two weeks or longer. If you buy the artichokes very fresh you can preserve them plunging their stems in water as you are used to make with flowers. On the contrary you should put them in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 2-3 days.
You can also freeze the artichokes but only if they are very fresh. Don't freeze them raw for they will turn brown and lose their taste. Carlo and I have the habit of cleaning the artichokes, cutting them into quarters and boil all the pieces for 4 minutes in salt lemon water. Then we drain them very well and arrange in a cold-resistant serving plate, dividing them accurately. We freeze them and after 24 hours we put the artichoke pieces, well freezed, in a plastic bag. We make this step very quickly.
Freezing artichokes in this way, we can take the number of artichokes we need without thawing all the artichokes.
You can preserve them in oil too! You can find our original home recipe in the "members-only area". It's a full-flavoured recipe.
How to clean the artichokes. The centre of the stem, the whole heart, the base of the petals are edible. In the baby artichokes the choke is edible too! So you have to remove the outer petal, cut off the pointed top, snap off the stalk and cut according to the recipe directions. Remember you have to plunge the artichoke pieces into lemon water as just as you've cut them to prevent discoloration. In the only-members area there are step-by-step instructions with a lot of photo so you can learn easily how to clean the artichokes.
How to eat the artichokes. The artichokes can be eaten raw or cooked. If you have Baby artichokes eat them raw. Clean and plunge into lemon water until you eat them. In this way they preserve all their properties.
Spined artichokes are perfect to be sauted while Big Purple such as Romanesco (mammola) should be filled
with different ingredients according to the authentic regional recipes from Italy; they can be also fried.
Besides artichokes can be the most important ingredients for pasta sauce, risotto, appetizers, pizza, main dishes with meat oor fish. In Italy we also use them for winter and spring soups combined for example with fava beans, peas ...
Cooking artichokes. If you cook them whole you need 30-40 minutes or less according to their size. If they are divided into quarters you need less time, 10-15 minutes. Obviously the frying time is different.
Match the wine. Impossible. The best choice is an amber beer. We suggest this choice in a fantastic recipe that combines Italian pasta with lobster and artichokes in the members-only area.
