Today is the first recipe in the Vegetable chapter of Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. I think you’ll really like this chapter, and there are many recipes for cooking vegetables in ways you’ve probably never cooked them.
Today, my recipe is Braised Artichokes with Peas. This was a very simple and delicious recipe. Simple, as long as you don’t mind dealing with a fresh artichoke. One of the really helpful aspects of this cookbook is that Marcella goes into great detail about how to work with the basic ingredients. In this case, how to clean and prepare an artichoke. In this recipe, after you’ve done that, you place chopped onion and olive oil in a pan and cook until the onion is lightly golden. You then add garlic, and again cook until lightly golden. You then add the artichoke that’s been cut in wedges and some water, cover the pot, and simmer until the artichokes are tender. At this point, you add the peas (I had to use frozen as there was no fresh available), and cook about 5 mintues. Finish with salt and pepper.