Caponata di Carciofi (Cooked Artichoke Salad)

I ate a lot of caponata dishes this past Winter in Italy, all in different cities and all very different from the other. Wikipedia defines caponata as something that I've never had. =)

I don't know if this dish is a caponata, but I like the sound of it and so it shall be. This is a follow up dish to the last post. You can make both dishes in one night, serve both as appetizers or serve this one as an accompaniment to a main course.

Ingredients

4 large artichokes, cleaned and sliced into quarters

1 large shallot, sliced

1/4 cup of white wine

1 cup of the roasting juice from the roasted tomatoes dish

fresh black pepper

1 tablespoon of good olive oil

Directions

1. Heat olive oil, artichokes and shallots in a shallow sautee pan until brown. About 5 minutes.
2. Add white wine and cook until it's burned off.
3. Add roasting juice, cover the pan and let cook over low heat until most of the juice is absorbed by the artichokes. The liquid should be at a very low simmer. Cook about 15 - 20 minutes, until artichokes are fork tender. Remember the juice from this dish?
4. Uncover, season with black pepper and serve.

The shallots and artichokes will take on a reddish color from the tomatoes. Oink! Oink!

Pomodori al Forno (Roasted Whole Tomatoes)

What? Am I finally done with artichokes?

No way! This is kind of a two part recipe; the second recipe will involve, surprise...artichokes!

I love tomatoes year round, too bad they're not sweet year round. Before Summer tomatoes come in, you can slow roast tomatoes to enhance their natural sweetness.

You can eat this as a side dish, or with crusty bread as an appetizer.

Ingredients

1 cluster of tomatoes, at least one per person

a few cloves of garlic

2 twigs of rosemary

sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

a few tablespoons of olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Wash and dry tomatoes, place in a small baking dish.
3. Sprinkle tomatoes with a generous amount of sea salt and pepper.
4. Add rosemary and garlic to the dish.
5. Drizzle olive oil over tomatoes. You don't have to worry about coating the bottom of the pan, the oil will spread around as it bakes.
6. Bake for 10 minutes at 425F, then turn down the oven to 350F. Bake for another hour.
7. Let bake and transfer to a serving dish with half of the juices. Save the other half (about a cup) for the next recipe.

Sop up those juices with some nice crusty bread. Mmm mmm mmmmm mmmm mmmmmm.

Branzino al Forno (Roasted Mediterranean Sea Bass)

Vietnamese families always cook whole fish. We steam it, fry it, boil it and share it with the whole family.

Italians also cook whole fish...one per person. So when dating an Italian... (*@*)

Ingredients

1 whole branzino (about 1 - 1.5 lbs) per person, have your fish monger clean it.

1/2 whole lemon, sliced

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

a few sprigs of fresh herbs, I prefer a mix of rosemary, parsley

fresh ground black pepper

1-2 teaspoons of salt

2 tablespoons of good olive oil

1/2 cup of white wine

1/4 cup of olive tapenade (purchased from Wholefoods)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Wash and pat the branzino dry with a paper towel.
3. Rub the outside and inside with garlic, salt and pepper.
4. Place in a glass baking dish.
5. Squeeze some lemon juice over the fish.
6. Stuff the rest of the lemon, herbs, garlic inside the cavity of the branzino.
7. Drizzle the olive oil directly over the branzino.
8. Pour the wine into the baking dish.
9. Bake the branzino for 10 minutes, then turn down the oven to 350F. Bake for another 15-20 minutes depending how thick the branzino is.
10. Let cool for 5 minutes.
11. To eat, peel the top layer skin away and top with the olive tapenade. I really like the tapenade available in the olive bar at Wholefoods. I also like this plain with just an additional squeeze of fresh lemon.

Remember to eat the meat in the cheeks.

Sugo di Carciofi (Artichoke Tomato Sauce)

Another artichoke recipe for Spring. This is light, yet flavorful and filling for the carnivores.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 large artichokes, cleaned and sliced into 1 inch pieces

1/2 cup of white wine

1 16 ounce can of San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon pepper

More salt & pepper to taste

5 basil leaves, chiffonade

shaved parmesan to top

Directions

1. Sautee onion, garlic in a medium size pot until brown. About 5-8 minutes
2. Add artichokes, continue to cook until slightly brown. About 5 minutes.
3. Add wine, cook until the wine is almost evaporated.
4. Add salt, pepper and tomatoes. Crush the tomatoes with your hands, or with a back of a wooden spoon. Be careful, it'll squirt!
5. Bring the sugo to a gentle simmer and leave the pot uncovered.
6. Cook until the sugo is thickened, most of the liquid is evaporated and all the ingredients are soft. About 30 minutes. Continue to adjust flavor with salt/pepper.
7. Toss with pasta, top with parmesan.

Risotto di Carciofi (Artichoke Risotto)

I'm not tired of artichokes yet, here's a great way to swap out a heavy main ingredient, like sausage, for a lighter meal.

Ingredients

2 large artichokes, cleaned and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 green garlic bulb, sliced

1 large shallot, sliced

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1/2 cup of wine

1 cup of aborio rice

1 quart of vegetable broth, heated in a medium sauce pan, until almost simmering

Salt & pepper to taste

Parmesan to garnish

Directions

1. Heat the stock in a medium pan, until almost simmering. You'll want to keep it hot throughout the cooking process, so that is quickly absorbed by the rice.
2. In a large flat plan, like a sautee pan, cook the shallots, green garlic, artichokes until slightly browned. About 5 minutes.
3. Note: Some people cook their risotto in a pot. I like a flat pan because it provides more surface area for the ingredients to cook. The liquid is absorbed more evenly this way.
4. Add the rice, cook until the grains are transparent, but not brown. About 5 minutes.
5. Add the white wine and cook until that is completely evaporated. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon.
6. Start adding the broth, one ladle at a time. Stir constantly until the broth is just almost completely absorb.
7. Note: If your vegetable broth has enough sodium, you won't have to add salt to the cooking process. If you are using low sodium, you will want to add a teaspoon of salt before you start adding the broth.
8. Continue adding broth until the risotto is al dente. You might not need the whole quart.
9. Season with salt, pepper. Top with parmesan and enjoy.