The spiny artichoke of Menfi

Menfi is a small town on the western side of Sicily, the town where I was born, known for its fertile land and sustainable farming.
Here growths one of the most greatly appreciated artichoke by gourmets, the spiny artichoke of Menfi, recognized as Slow Food Presidium.
Slow Food is an organization that promotes local food, traditional cooking, low input agriculture as an alternative to fast and intensive way of living and producing.
Its scientific name is Cynara scolymus. Legend narrates that Cynara was a beautiful green-eyed nymph with purple shades and ash-colored hair. Courted by Zeus, the nymph refused his attention since the beginning and for this reason was punished and turned into a vegetable: a green artichoke, with purple flowers, like the girl’s eyes, thorny and hard on the outside but tender on the inside.
Menfi’s spiny artichoke it is aromatic, crispy and delicate. Excellent for barbecuing and for making vegetables in oil like caponata and paté. It can be eaten as side dish, first or second course with meat or fish.

Today I’ll tell you how to make pasta with the spiny artichoke of Menfi, sausage, cherry tomatoes and chopped walnut.

Recipe for two:
160 gr. of pasta (any shape you like)
3 artichokes
1 lemon
10 cherry tomatoes
1 chili pepper
3 walnuts
Olive oil
Salt

First thing to do is cleaning the artichokes. Use a large bowl and fill it with cold water, squeeze one lemon into the water. Trim the artichokes by snapping off and discarding the tough outer leaves until you reach the tender part, its heart. Cut the top, divide each artichoke into 4 or 6 pieces and drop them into the bowl with lemon water. When you are done with this the artichokes are ready for cooking.
Take a pan and put some extra virgin olive oil, a clove of garlic, a whole chili pepper (fresh or dry) and place it on the burner. Heat up the oil. Drain and dry the cleaned artichokes and put them into the pan (be careful about the oil, it may splash if there is water in the artichokes). Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and add them to the artichokes, let it cook for about 10 minutes, until tender. If needed put in a little bit of vegetable broth while cooking. Meanwhile cook the sausage in a different pan and once is cooked add it to the artichokes. Only now salt it to your taste. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring until cooked “al dente”, drain and transfer into the artichokes pan and mix all together.
Once the pasta has been placed on the plate, add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and the chopped walnuts.
Pair with a white or red wine. If white go for Sicilia Menfi D.O.C. Chardonnay Planeta , if red our recommendation is Sicilia Menfi D.O.C. Alicante Ciàtu Cantine Barbera
Finally, why not bubbles, if so we recommend Calamossa I.G.T. Terre Siciliane Mandrarossa.

For any further information contact me on
stefaniamontalbano@carlozucchetti.it