Stuffed artichoke with "sombrero"

Italiano - Español

Artichokes are a kind of very healthy vegetable... if you eat them alone. This is quite a rich and nourishing recipe, so do not eat if you are on a diet!
Actually, we filled the artichokes with two different kind of cheese. Then we covered the vegetables with  a crispy pastry lid.
Drawing something onto the lid surface is a trick to make the artichokes funny.
Briefly bake, et voilà, the best artichokes ever are ready for dinner. Enjoy!

Serves 4

• 8 artichokes
• 250 g pie crust (pate brisée)
• 2 tabsp. extra virgin olive oil 
• 200 g fresh ricotta cheese (or other fresh cheese)
• 100 g semi-hard cow cheese   
• 50 g grated Parmigiano 
• 20 g grated Pecorino cheese
• 50 g speck (or other cold cuts)
• 2 egg yolks
• a bit of milk
• the juice of half a lemon 
• handful of parsley 
• 1 clove of garlic
• sea salt, back pepper powder, extra vergin olive oil, to taste

 Difficulty: medium - Time: 1 hour

Take a large pot. Bring to a boil about two litres of water adding a tablespoon of sea salt, the parsley, the garlic and a drizzle of oil. 
Meanwhile, clean and rinse the artichokes, remove the external and tougher leaves, cutting off the sharp leaf tips. 
Boil for five minutes. Drain upside-down for a while (see image above).

Slightly beat the eggs. 
Chop the semi-hard cheese and the cold cuts.
Take a bowl: put inside the cheeses (ricotta, semi-hard cow cheese, grated cheeses), the beaten egg yolks, the cold cuts. Add a pinch of salt and a generous pinch of powdered black pepper. 

Gently open the artichokes leaves with your hands and fill the vegetables with the stuffing.
Unfold the pie crust and using a pasta cutter cut 8 rings to top the artichokes. 
Make some small cuts onto the pastry surface, then brush with the milk.
Place the stuffed artichokes into a capable baking tin: they need to stand up. 
Add half a glass of water into the tin. Bake in preheated oven to 180°C for half an hour. 
Enjoy!

Italiano - Español