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Artichokes Stuffed with Meat
(Carciofi ripieni di carne) For six artichokes, make the following stuffing: 1/4 lb. lean veal.
Two slices of ham, more fat than lean.
The interior part of the artichokes.
One fourth of onion (small).
Some leaves of parsley.
One pinch of softened dried mushrooms.
One small crumb of bread rolled and sifted.
One pinch of grated cheese.
When the artichokes have been browned with oil alone, pour a little water and cover with a moistened cloth kept in place by the cover. The steam that surrounds the artichokes cooks them better. 107
The instructions assume a cook who already knows how to trim and stuff an artichoke; what is written down is really the filling list plus the one technique the author thought worth insisting on. Read the steam-braise note as the heart of the recipe.
- The hinge: the damp clothA moistened cloth laid over the pan under the lid traps steam and returns condensation, so the artichokes cook through without the water boiling away or the oil scorching. A tight-fitting lid over a low flame does much the same; check every ten minutes and add a spoonful of water if the pan runs dry.
- "The interior part of the artichokes"The text does not specify; most likely the tender inner leaves and the pared trimmings from the base and stem, chopped and worked into the stuffing. The fuzzy choke would be scraped out and discarded — with young, tight Italian artichokes there may be almost none.
- Quantities and the stuffingRoughly: 4 oz lean veal, 2 slices fatty ham, 1/4 small onion, a little parsley, a pinch of soaked dried mushroom, perhaps a tablespoon of fine dry breadcrumb, a pinch of grated cheese (the type is not stated; a hard grating cheese is implied). Chop the veal and ham together by hand or pulse briefly; the mixture should hold, and an egg yolk will bind it if it seems loose.
- The ham"More fat than lean" points to prosciutto crudo cut thick, or pancetta. The fat is doing the work of lubricating a very lean veal filling, so do not substitute a lean deli ham.
- Dried mushroomsMost likely porcini, though the text says only "dried mushrooms." Soak in warm water for 20 minutes, squeeze dry, chop fine; the strained soaking liquid is worth using in place of the plain water added to the pan.
- TimingNot given. Reckon 5 to 8 minutes to brown the artichokes in oil, then 30 to 40 minutes covered over low heat, depending on size. They are done when a knife slips into the base with no resistance and the veal filling is firm.
- Keeping them from blackeningTrimmed artichokes oxidise fast. Drop them into water acidulated with lemon while you work through the six, then drain and dry them well before they go into the oil or they will steam instead of browning.
- YieldSix stuffed artichokes: a first course for six, or a substantial vegetable dish for three or four alongside something else.
The Italian Cook Book (1919) was compiled by Maria Gentile for an American readership, and like much English-language Italian writing of the period it leans heavily on the domestic Tuscan tradition codified by Pellegrino Artusi a generation earlier — hence the terse, conversational instructions that assume the reader has seen the dish made. Stuffed artichokes exist in some form all down the peninsula, from the Roman carciofi filled with mint and garlic to Ligurian and Neapolitan versions bound with meat, cheese and breadcrumb; the meat here is used as a seasoning rather than a main event, a few ounces of veal and two slices of ham stretched across six vegetables. The insistence on the wet cloth is the useful survival: before reliable low flames and heavy tight-lidded pans, it is often said to have been one way a cook kept a braise moist, though the book itself says nothing about the heat source or the pace of the cooking.