Italian · Appetizers

Carciofi alla Giudia

Artichokes flattened into a bronze flower and fried twice, from the Roman Jewish ghetto. The outer leaves should shatter like a crisp.

55 min total Serves 4 servings Hard
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Carciofi alla Giudia

Photograph credit: Carciofi alla giudia by fugzu · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr

Storing and Planning Ahead

None. They soften within twenty minutes.

Carciofi alla Giudia, in preparation
Carciofi alla Giudia, in preparation

Photograph credit: Carciofi alla giudia by fugzu · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr

Making Carciofi alla Giudia

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  1. Trim the artichokes down to the pale heart and tender leaves, keeping 4 cm of stem, and drop them into lemon water.

  2. Drain and dry them thoroughly, then season inside and out with the fine salt and pepper.

  3. Heat the oil to 130°C / 265°F. Fry the artichokes stem-up for 12 minutes, until a knife enters the base easily. They should stay pale.

  4. Lift them out and, while still warm, press each one firmly onto a board or between two plates so the leaves splay open into a flower.

  5. Let them cool for 10 minutes and raise the oil to 180°C / 355°F.

  6. Fry them a second time, head-down, for 3 minutes, until the outer leaves are deep bronze and brittle.

  7. Drain on a rack, sprinkle with flaky salt and serve immediately with lemon.

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Worth Knowing

  • Two fryings at two temperatures. There is no shortcut.
  • Press them flat while warm, when the leaves still bend.
  • The outer leaves should shatter, not bend.

Behind the Recipe

Two fryings at two temperatures, and the reason is that the heart and the leaves need opposite things. The first fry at 130°C / 265°F cooks the dense heart through without colouring; the second at 180°C / 355°F, after the artichoke has been pressed flat, blasts the thin outer leaves into something like glass. One fry gives you either a raw heart or burnt leaves. Press it flat while it is still warm from the first fry, when the leaves are pliable.

Serving Ideas

Lemon wedges · A glass of Frascati · Fried courgette flowers

Nutrition per Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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Compiled by Turab

Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.

First published ; last changed .