Carciofi alla Romana

Carciofi alla Romana

Carciofi alla Romana
Course	antipasto, contorno
Place of origin	Italy
Region or state	Lazio
Serving temperature	warm or room temperature
Main ingredients	artichokes, lesser calamint, parsley, garlic

Carciofi alla Romana [karˈtʃɔːfi alla roˈmaːna], literally "Roman-style artichokes", is a typical dish of Roman cuisine. In Rome, it is prepared in each household and served in all restaurants in spring-time. Together with the Carciofi alla giudia, it represents one of the most famous artichoke dishes of the Roman cuisine.

In Rome and surroundings this dish is prepared with artichokes of the Romanesco variety, harvested between February and April in the coastal region north-west of Rome, between Ladispoli and Civitavecchia.

The artichokes are cleaned with a sharp knife, eliminating all the hard leaves and the thorns with an upward spiral movement. Only a couple of cm of the stem are left: the rest is cleaned, cut in pieces and cooked with the artichokes. The artichokes are plunged for some minutes in water with lemon juice, so that they won't turn brown. Then they are opened in the center and the choke (present only towards season's end) is removed. In the resulting cavity of each artichoke, is stuffed a mixture of parsley, lesser calamint (in Rome named mentuccia), garlic, salt and pepper. At the end, all the artichokes are put in a deep pan, standing on the stem, enough in number so that they support each other and don't fall. Water and white wine are added, and oil, pepper and salt are sprinkled on them. Then are braised in the covered pan until the liquid has evaporated. One can eat them warm or at room temperature.