Artichokes preserved in oil
Having such a wonderful olive oil at hand, Italians are very good at preserving a variety of vegetables “sott’olio”. These are wonderful as part of a mixed antipasto. Use small baby artichokes that we call “carciofina” . To make three jars you need approximately 3 Kg. of Artichokes.
Trim the artichokes of their tough outer leaves. Chop off about a third of the top spear. Cut off the stem, leaving about 3cm.
Bring to the boil 1 lt. 1/2 of water and 1 lt. 1/2 of white vinegard with a pinch of salt, then put the artichokes into the water and vinegard and let them boil until they are soft (try piercing them with a fork).
When they are ready drain them and let stay overnay upsidedown on a napking so that to dripping well. Then put them upsidedown into a jar adding some pepper in grain, some pieces of laurel oak leaves and some clove of garlic amongst them. Cover completely with oil. You can also use seeds oil but of hight quality.They will be ready in about 3 weeks but often at my house they are eaten long before !!!
