Back before the madness that was this summer, on the last night of our super-secret trip to Italy in March, N. and I got dinner at a little restaurant in Bologna that we found on TripAdvisor. It was far too slick for its own good, and I was skeptical, but we were there and hungry, so we ordered a spaghetti al diavolo and a fettuccine al carciofi to split. The spicy spaghetti was quite good. We fought over the fettuccine.
Since getting back I've made it myself twice, and I can tell you this: it can either be the biggest pain in the ass pasta you've ever made, or it can be easy as hell and taste as good. I'm adapting my instructions here from Marcella Hazan, and while I have all the love and respect in the world for Marcella, I will say this about her version of the recipe: it's insane. And not in the fun, look at this crazy elaborate birthday cake that's a lot of work but comes out awesome kind of way (cough, cough). More in the totally unnecessary, will have you cursing her and your knives and artichokes and pasta til you say screw it and just order pizza kind of way. You can, if you want, buy fresh whole artichokes, trim, clean, chop, and par-cook them, and proceed from there, as Marcella suggests. Or you can get a nice can or frozen bag of artichoke quarters or hearts, and save yourself the time and headache. I suspect you know which route I advocate.
A note on canned or jarred artichokes, however: make sure you get the ones packed in salt water, not vinegar. You'll probably have better luck with this in cans rather than jars. Rinse them well before chopping so they're not obscenely salty. Better still are frozen ones, which obviate the need for rinsing and (I think) taste a mite fresher. At Whole Foods I had the choice between quarters or hearts - hearts will be more tender; quarters will have a bit more chew. Dealer's choice here. I've tried both, both iterations were hits.
So without further ado:
Crazy easy, crazy good, post-dissertation pasta with artichokes
2 cans/1bag artichoke pieces
garlic
lemon juice
parsley
grated Romano cheese
S&P
olive oil
1lb pasta
1) Rinse the artichokes well if they're canned. Chop into pretty small pieces. Toss into a pan with some olive oil, saute for about 10 minutes over medium heat.
2) Mince/crush garlic to taste (3 cloves for my garlic-loving self), add to the pan, saute a few minutes more.
3) Add a good bit of lemon juice, a lot of parsley, and some cheese. Stir, then add salt & pepper to taste (careful of the salt if using caned chokes). Cook about a minute, then turn off the heat.
4) Cook the pasta.
5) Add a splash of the pasta water to the artichoke mixture, then toss in the pasta. Serve with more cheese, parsley, and a drizzle of fresh olive oil. I served it at a dinner party alongside a tomato/cucumber salad from my mother's garden, good bread, a peach/plum/rosemary galette, and some truly outstanding muffaletta meatballs that the inimitable A.P. may soon share the recipe for if we're lucky. Buon appetito.
