Carciofi alla Giudea – crispy fried artichokes
Rosana McPhee serves up this classic Roman-Jewish recipe of crispy deep-fried artichokes, simply flavoured with a splash of white wine and a sprinkling of lemon juice to serve. Artichokes appear widely in Roman restaurants in the spring, when Latian artichokes are at their peak.
Ingredients
Carciofi alla Giudea
- 4 Romanesco artichokes
- 1 lemon , juiced, and another to serve
- 50ml of white wine, to sprinkle
- 1.5l oil, flavourless
- salt
- pepper
Method
1
Clean the artichokes by cutting away the tough outer leaves until you get to softer internal ones. With a curved paring knife, carefully cut off the purple part of each leaf
2
The artichoke will have a round shape, like a rose. Peel off the outer skin of the artichoke stems and carefully tidy up the bases
3
Immerse the artichokes in a clean acidulated water, made of 1l of water and the juice of 1 lemon, for at least 10 minutes
4
Remove the artichokes from the water, drain and dry thoroughly. Beat them against one another so that the leaves start to open
5
In a deep pan, heat the oil to 140–150°C
6
Immerse the artichokes in the hot oil and allow to fry for 10 minutes. To check if they are cooked, just pierce the base of the artichokes with a fork – if the fork penetrates the artichoke, it is done
7
Remove the artichokes from the oil and leave them to cool upside down on a tray for 15 minutes to drain the excess oil. With a fork, open the leaves from the inside to get the shape of a fully bloomed rose
8
Season with salt and plenty of freshly ground pepper and allow the artichokes to rest for a few minutes
9
Sprinkle the artichokes with white wine. Reheat the oil, raising the temperature slightly this time to 180°C, and dip the artichokes back into the hot oil for 1–2 minutes only. Remove artichokes and drain cut-side down on kitchen paper
10
Serve the artichokes piping hot with lemon wedges on the side
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Carciofi alla Giudea – crispy fried artichokes
