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The Ten Most Recent Comments By ceramista

From Recipes

Snapshots from Italy: Tagliatelle with Artichokes, Leeks, and Lemon

I also love artichokes, and this seems to me to be a pure recipe which enhances their subtle flavor and does not overpower. I will hit the market tomorrow for a few and give your pasta a whirl, Gina. I LOVE the idea of combining leeks and artichokes.

Also, the small ones we can get here in Italy are not such a horror to clean like the larger ones, where one has to make sure that every single bit of choke is removed, often the choke is still delicate and not completely indigestible, or has not developed at all.

ceramista at 1:29PM on 03/04/08

From Serious Eats

Snapshots from Italy: Spremuta, Anyone?

I put a pitcher of blood orange spremuta on the breakfast table one morning for the guests at my inn. It sat there the whole meal, I inquired towards the end of breakfast if anyone wanted to try it. The answer? "We don't drink beet juice with breakfast in America:" I always get jarred when my fellow citizens don't recognize that my New York accent means I'm actually one of them. Beet juice! But I reacted quickly and filled all their glasses with the crimson colored treat and, with a stern Mama Italiana face, ordered them to drink. "It's like drinking roses!", one exclaimed. " There's no acid flavor, it's pure heaven!"; another bubbled and gushed. I should have kept my big mouth closed and drank the pitcher myself -- they all wanted three glasses each every morning thereafter.

Here's a toast, Gina, I'll go squeeze us a couple of glasses right now.

ceramista at 11:46AM on 02/05/08

Responses to Comments by ceramista

From Recipes

Snapshots from Italy: Tagliatelle with Artichokes, Leeks, and Lemon

The recipe was a little bit confusing with the artichoke, I wasn't sure what size artichoke to get, so I went with medium and couldn't fit it in the pan.
For anyone wanting to make this dish, it takes a while, getting together with family and friends to make it is a fun experience and helps things move along faster. All the effort is definitely worth it, this dish tastes delicious, not too many ingredients to make it too difficult, and all the flavors come together very nicely! The cheese and artichoke I must say are what ultimately makes the taste come out.

Auldan at 11:19PM on 09/30/08

From Recipes

Snapshots from Italy: Tagliatelle with Artichokes, Leeks, and Lemon

Hi Ben! The artichokes here are gi-normous, I must say! Much bigger than the ones I am used to back in the States, which are probably more like to the ones you used. The first couple of times I have made this dish, I did it a la minute, and by cooking the artichokes a bit first, then adding the leeks, they softened up pretty fast with the lid on. But cooking them ahead of time can work too.

I had some friends over for dinner a few nights ago and wanted to cut down on my in-the-kitchen exile; an hour or so ahead of time, I sauteed the artichokes in a bit of olive oil, then added a bit of water and the lid to cook them through, and set them aside. I picked up the rest of the recipe by cooking the leeks, and added the chokes back to the pan when I added the lemon. It worked fine that way, so if anyone wants to break the recipe up in the same manner, go for it...

Gina DePalma at 2:50AM on 03/08/08

From Recipes

Snapshots from Italy: Tagliatelle with Artichokes, Leeks, and Lemon

Gina - just went through all the steps and I'm not posting with everything in my belly. I must say it was great - not the type of meal I typically cook in my kitchen. And even though there was no meat, the artichokes here are clearly the star of the show and their flavor shone through with a perfect balance of the other flavors. I must say, due to it being a somewhat obscure item, I did not implement the leek, but rather just did with the lemon/artichoke combo with the addition of some hot peppers and spices.

For the most part everything came out as it should have. My only self-criticism was that I perhaps should have let the chokes steam a bit more since they still had some tougher/chewier regions when I sat down with it.

Oh, and I don't know how relevant it was, but I cooked this dish in Spain - and the artichokes I got were the smaller ones, not the larger ones more common in the US.

benknight at 11:46AM on 03/07/08

From Recipes

Snapshots from Italy: Tagliatelle with Artichokes, Leeks, and Lemon

I am very surprised fresh artichokes are already in the market in Rome. Here on the island of Kea (Cyclades, Greece), although we are further south and have more sun, our artichokes have only leaves. Not even the beginning of a bud... Maybe these Roman artichokes are a very different kind. Your recipe is GREAT, that's how I make my artichoke pasta. Only instead of pecorino, I sprinkle with crumbled feta at the end.
Aglaiak

aglaiak at 12:14PM on 03/05/08

From Recipes

Snapshots from Italy: Tagliatelle with Artichokes, Leeks, and Lemon

Hi Gina! Glad to read about your adventures in Rome. And as soon as I find a decent artichoke here in New York I'm going to try that recipe.

Laurie Woolever at 9:55AM on 03/05/08

From Recipes

Snapshots from Italy: Tagliatelle with Artichokes, Leeks, and Lemon

This sounds incredible. Gotta give ita try.

beth1 at 8:59PM on 03/04/08

From Recipes

Snapshots from Italy: Tagliatelle with Artichokes, Leeks, and Lemon

Hey Gina, I've been really enjoying your posts. Thank you and I hope you're having fun -- you deserve it!

louisralph at 2:28PM on 03/04/08

From Recipes

Snapshots from Italy: Tagliatelle with Artichokes, Leeks, and Lemon

We we're in Rome a couple years ago and my wife tried carciofi alla guidea for the first time. She had it every meal for the remainder of the time were there. We will be back in Rome in June and one of our first stops will be for artichokes. Can't wait.

RobertG at 1:51PM on 03/04/08

From Serious Eats

Snapshots from Italy: Spremuta, Anyone?

Ciao Gina! I'm firmly on the spremuta bandwagon--I posted about blood oranges a couple weeks ago, and just this week, about a lovely spremuta d'arancia that I like to enjoy with my morning oatmeal. Mmmmm....

Hope you're enjoying yourself a Roma ;)

bleeding espresso at 11:57AM on 02/08/08

From Serious Eats

Snapshots from Italy: Spremuta, Anyone?

GAHH! I didn't get to try any spremuta while we were there! A definite on the next trip! (Which will come soon if we're lucky.) ;-)

dj_evol_eno at 5:14PM on 02/05/08