Fried artichokes with tomato and olive salad

Name: Fried artichokes with tomato and olive salad
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 8 small artichokes; Juice of 2 lemons; 50 ml cheap olive oil; Oil for frying; 4 slices of sourdough bread; 20 pitted green olives; 4 large pitted black olives; 2 tablespoons grated Pecorino; 1 tablespoon good-quality olive oil; 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley; 4 large ripe tomatoes; Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation info

For
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Salt is Essential

By Shaun Hill

Published 2016

About

Deep-fried artichoke is a Sephardic Jewish dish popular in Italy. The artichokes need precooking in water and olive oil in order to be soft enough for final deep-frying. Small or baby artichokes are called for and all this other tomato and olive stuff is just optional to make the artichokes look more of an event.

Ingredients

8 small artichokes
Juice of 2 lemons
50 ml

Europe
Italy
Side dish
Vegetarian

Method

Cut away the stalks of the artichokes, then pare off the coarser outer leaves. A baby artichoke will be very soft and need little trimming. Brush each with the lemon juice, then cover with the cheap olive oil and water in a small pan. Poach for 15-20 minutes until they are soft. Drain and leave to cool, then use a small spoon to scoop out the hairy choke from the middle of each one. Deep-fry in