Recipe - Carciofi Alla Romana

ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Baked Artichokes Roman Style

INGREDIENTS
4 small Artichokes
One half Lemon
3 Fresh bread slices, crusts
removed, finely chopped
1/3 cup Chopped fresh parsley
10 Fresh mint leaves; or
1 teaspoon dried mint, crumbled
2 Cloves garlic, minced
One half cup Olive oil
Salt; to taste
Freshly ground black pepper

Remove and discard the tougher outer leaves of the artichokes. Cut the
remaining leaves halfway, with scissors, until you reach the central cone
of leaves. At this point you will see that threequarters of the leaves are
white and the tip of the cone is pale green. Slice off the green top.

Gently open the artichokes with your hands and remove the fuzzy chokes with
a spoon or a melon scooper. Rub the lemon over the cut edges of the
artichokes to prevent discoloration.

With a small knife, trim off the outer green part of the artichokes' green
bottoms. Trim the stalks, leaving about 2 inches intact. Trim away the
greener outer part of the stalks, leaving the white part of the stalks
intact. Rub the cut edges of the artichokes with more lemon.

In a small bowl, combine the bread, parsley, mint, garlic, and oil, and
season. Push the stuffing between the artichoke leaves and into each
artichoke cavity.

Place the artichokes, with their stalks pointing upward, in a small
casserole. Add the remaining oil and just enough water to come halfway up
the artichokes. (If you have any stuffing left, add it to the casserole).

Brush a piece of parchment paper with olive oil and place over artichokes.
Cover the casserole with a tight lid and bake at 375F until tender, 30 to
40 mintues. Cool to room temperature.

Arrange the artichokes with their stemps upward on a serving dish. If there
is still quite a bit of watery juice in the casserole, cook it down over
high heat until you 4 to 5 tablespoons left. Pour the sauce over the
artichokes, let cool, and serve.

From: Trattoria Cooking

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini