Category: Spring Dish

Artichoke Hearts

Detailed instructions

Marta Giralt Pujol has given us some of her recipes for artichoke hearts – the tender bits at the centre of globe artichokes.

Harvest the artichokes before they grow too big and before the top leaves start opening. Harvest the artichokes with about 15 cm of stem. Stems are edible and quite tasty; you simply need to peel the outer skin.

Peeling the Artichokes

  • Sharp short knife
  • Water
  • Ice cubes
  • A bunch of parsley or a lemon or water with a bit of flour.
  • Optionally, gloves as artichokes may stain if peeling loads of them

Fill a bowl with ice cubes, then add the bunch of parsley torn in two or squeeze the lemon in the water or do both. The lemon may leave more flavour than the parsley so use whichever you prefer. If you cook the artichokes quickly this step its not necessary.

Cut the stem, leaving about 8 cm with the artichoke. Remove any leaves left in the stem. Holding the artichoke with the tip away, use a sharp short knife to cut downwards from under the second level of leaves (counting from the base). Start cutting downwards from under the leaves then turn the knife 90 ° and keep turning the artichoke to cut the rest in the same movement. The exterior thick leaves can also be peeled from the bottom of the globe up. Either way it´s easier than peeling the leaves one by one. Cut the top of the interior leaves with a single horizontal cut. Peel the outer layers of the stem. If you want to remove any hairs (the ‘choke’) cut them out with a spoon or a melon baller. Keep the artichoke hearts in the bowl with water and parsley until they are ready to cook. Or use them quickly.

The pictures show clearly how to do it.

Cut the outer leaves from the bottom of the globe. If you find it hard peel the stem first, but I like to do it last because the stem turns black very quickly.

Keep peeling the darker outer leaves around the globe.

Here, the outer harder leaves have been removed.

Cut the tips off the remaining leaves.

Peel the outer layers of the stem (this stem is brown because this artichoke had been in water for too long while I was finding time for the pictures)

That’s it!

Marta Giralt Pujol

Fried Artichoke Hearts

Fry the artichokes you have just peeled…

  • Peeled artichokes
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt
  • Optional: Serrano ham cubes (if you find them in the UK) or serrano ham strips

Pat the artichokes dry with a kitchen towel and slice them in half or quarters.

Optionally, pre-cook the artichokes using a microwave or boiling for 5 min. This step is not essential, but the artichokes will be more tender inside by the end of the recipe. To cook in a microwave, place the artichokes in a plate slightly oiled, cover with a bowl or the microwave plate cover. Cook in the microwave for about 5 minutes, depending on the size.

Add olive oil to a small pan. Add enough to cover all the surface of the pan with a good thickness of olive oil. Heat the olive oil and add the artichokes turning from time to time. Add the ham (if any) and cook for a bit more until the artichokes have changed colour or browned to your taste. Lift them out and remove any excess oil with a paper towel.

Salt to taste and enjoy!

Marta Giralt Pujol

Marinated artichoke with pomegranate

Cold slices of artichoke

Mix olive oil, lemon juice and salt to taste in a bowl. Slice the raw artichoke hearts thinly and add them to the olive oil and lemon juice. Mix well and ensure the mix covers the artichokes.

Place the artichoke heart slices flat in a plate and add the pomegranate peas, grated Parmesan and grated lemon peel.

Marta Giralt Pujol

Globe Artichoke Soup

Use the left over bits from peeling the artichokes

  • Artichoke peelings and stems
  • Water
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt
  • Optionally, serrano ham in small strips or bread croutons.

Boil the leftovers from peeling the artichokes long enough so that they are tender. Blend with a blender and remove any fibres with a strainer. Add salt to taste. (Fry the serrano ham in a bit of olive oil so that it becomes crispy.)

Serve the soup in a bowl with a swirl of olive oil and the Serrano ham or croutons on top.

Marta Giralt Pujol

Rahkomenakakku

A versatile Finnish cake with apples or other fruit.

This versatile recipe for an Finnish apple cake was published in 1978 by the Leeds branch of the National Childbirth Trust in a little booklet called Growing Up With Good Food. The booklet was a collection of recipes from Leeds mothers, edited by Catherine Lewis. We still occasionally use our old copy, now dog-eared and food-stained.

Rahkomenakakku has been a long time favourite in our family.

Joe Foster

Sorrel-Onion Tart

Utterly delicious – worth keeping a small bed of sorrel somewhere.

I think Sally got this recipe from The Greens Cook Book. It is utterly delicious

We keep a small bed of sorrel protected from the birds on our plot which keeps us going most of the spring and summer.

  • Tart dough for a 9 inch tart
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 to 8 0z sorrel leaves
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup double cream
  • 2 oz Gruyere cheese, grated

Prepare the tart dough and partially pre-bake.

Melt the butter in a pan, add the onion and salt. Cover the pan and stew for about 10 minutes until the onion is soft, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile cut the stems off the sorrel leaves and roughly slice the leaves. Add them to the cooked onion and cook until the sorrel has turned a grey-green colour (about 3-4 minutes). Whisk the eggs with the cream and then stir in the onion, sorrel and half the cheese. Taste for salt and season with pepper.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spread the rest of the cheese on the bottom of the flan case, then spread the filling on top. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until set and well coloured. Serve hot.

Makes one 9 inch tart

Sally Foster

Spinach with Garlic & Ginger

An Indian recipe for spinach, this works with cabbage or kale, too.

I learned this wonderful way of cooking spinach so long ago I almost forgot where it came from. I think it was a Sikh friend who showed it to me, but it doesn’t just go with Indian cooking – and it works with other greens besides spinach. I like it with cabbage, and even kale sometimes. This should be enough for two people who really like their greens.

  • 200 g or 300 g spinach
  • knob of ghee or else cooking oil and a knob of butter
  • about 2cm of fresh ginger root, grated
  • clove of garlic, pressed or chopped fine.

Wash the spinach well and drain. Heat the ghee (or oil and butter) with the garlic and ginger in a pan until it starts to sizzle. Then throw in the spinach, still wet, and cover the pan. Cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is soft and smells delicious. With other greens you may need to add just a bit of water to stop it burning.

Joe Foster

Chocolate rhubarb sponge pudding

“This recipe is so good, I have to share it.”

I know you will think I am obsessed with rhubarb (I am!), but this recipe is so good, I have to share it. It’s really easy and so nice…

A good way to make use of your rhubarb (don’t forget you can donate some rhubarb to the Hedge Veg box for our neighbours if you have some spare, too). 

Serves 6 to 8

  • 600g rhubarb, trimmed
  • 125 g golden caster sugar
  • SPONGE
  • 200g golden caster sugar
  • 225g softened butter
  • 200g SR flour
  • 25g cocoa
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 4 medium eggs
  • 100ml milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 50g dark chocolate, cut into chips
  1. Oven 200oC/ 180oC fan/ gas 6
  2. Cut rhubarb into 2cm chunks and mix with 125g sugar in an ovenproof dish (large).
  3. For the sponge, reserve 2 level tbsps sugar, then place all other ingredients EXCEPT choc chips, in food Processor and cream together. Add the chocolate chips afterwards and stir together.
  4. Smooth the sponge mixture over the rhubarb, scatter the reserved sugar over the top.
  5. Bake for 50 mins or until skewer comes out clean.
  6. Eat hot, or even better, warm. Recipe recommends custard, I had some cream.

Angie Willshaw

Serves 6-8

Rhubarb Collection

There is more to it than pie and crumble.

Starting in April, or earlier, we pick lots of rhubarb until June on our plots. Here are some recipes and recommendations from members for surprising ways of using it.

Sweet cicely is an attractive perennial herb with an aniseed scent, easy to grow. It combines especially well with rhubarb:

Baby Globe Artichokes

Pick them young, before the choke develops and try this.

Globe artichokes are coming on nicely at the moment (mid May).  Instead of waiting for them to get enormous, this is how I’ve been cooking them:

Pick them young and tender.

Cut of the top third, and take of several layers of ‘leaves’.

Cut them in two. There is no choke at this stage.

Boil in wine/water+lemon juice or vinegar for about 10 minutes. Dress them with vinegar or whatever.

Eat!

From Rosie Hall