Carciofi alla Giudia- Roman Deep Fried Artichokes

These Roman-Jewish fried artichokes have an addictive crunchiness, with a tender and soft meat in the centre that’s absolutely wonderful with a sprinkle of Maldon Salt. In Italy, the artichokes used for this dish are typically the giant round ones called Mammole or Violet artichokes can be used as well.

Ingredients for 4 deep fried artichokes

• 4 Mammole artichokes

• Vegetable or sunflower oil

• Maldon Sea Salt 

Method: 

• Start by peeling back the outer leaves of the artichoke one by one until you have peeled back about 4-5 layers and discard. The leaves left should be paler in color and more tender. 

• Cut the stem of the artichoke so that you have about 2 cm remaining still attached to the artichoke. 

• Use a small knife to peel back the stem of the artichoke around the inner circle, going all the way up so that you get rid of any fibers left from peeling the leaves. 

• Cut off the top two thirds of the artichoke leaves as they are too tough to eat. 

• Use a teaspoon to scrape out the choke (small hairs) at the center of the artichoke. 

• Hold your artichoke upside down and smash them gently on the counter a few times so that the leaves open up. 

• If you are preparing these in advance, you can put them in a bowl of water with a lemon squeezed in to prevent them from oxidizing. Make sure you dry them very well before frying to avoid spitting. 

• When ready to eat, heat the frying oil in a pot deep enough to submerge the artichoke half way. Approx 15cm. Fill the pot 2/3rds of the way up and heat until it spits when you add a drop of water. 

• Fry the artichokes, leave first 1 or 2 at a time depending on the size of your pot. Leave to cook leaves in until they are deep gold and crispy. You don’t want your oil to be too hot, it should just be sizzling. 

• Turn over and fry the other way until they are crispy and gold all over

• Drain onto a paper towel and season with Salt. Serve immediately.