i LOVE artichokes. so you can imagine how pleased i was to spend some time in southern tuscany where artichokes grow like wildflowers (ok, that's a slight exaggeration - but there's a whole lotta them!).
anyway, as i mentioned before, vittorio and alessandra took me to their fantastic tuscan house for a few days. it was peaceful and beautiful, just as i expected. i didn't do much but eat delicious food, relax in the garden and play with mirta, their adorable blonde lab.
i did, however, learn how to prepare marinated artichokes!
first, we went to an artichoke farm and bought several kilos, fresh from the source.
we cut the stems and the flowery tips of the artichokes and peeled off the layers until they looked like this.
we soaked them in water with fresh lemons, then boiled them in 3 parts vinegar, 1 part white wine.
set them out to dry, then stacked them face-up inside glass jars along with fresh laurel leaves and black peppercorns.
when the jars were filled to the top with artichokes, we poured olive oil to the brim - let it trickle down between all the artichokes until most of the air gaps were filled.
and voila! they make great gifts and they're delicious (even though you should wait about a month to get the best flavor).
anyway, look what i did!
it's all thanks to my wonderful teacher. thanks vittorio!
Labels: artichoke farm, backpacking europe, europe, italian family, italian food, italy, marinated artichokes, tuscany