CARCIOFI RIPIENI (Stuffed Artichokes with Ricotta Cheese)

Mamma Mia!

Just thinking about these wonders gets my blood flowing real fast....!!!!

This is a perfect antipasto / finger food for any event and pretty darn easy to prepare, dont be afraid of the artichoke though, I know some of you just dont have that passion, yet. Artichokes are great for you and if you combine their bitterness with something salty or sweet you will surely learn to appreciate these babies.

YOU'LL NEED:
(serves six)

- 1 Lemon (its juice)
- 12-14 artichokes
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup of ricotta cheese (get the good stuff if you can that is soft)
- 8 T spoons of parmesan cheese... good parmigiano, go for the best especially when dealing with antipasti because you are dealing with the core flavor or the flavor which is tied very closely to the core.
- salt and pepper (QB)

PREPARATION:

- First thing is to fill a medium sized bowl with cold water and add the lemon juice.
- Clean the Carciofi (artichokes) by trimming off the top 1/3 of this beauty and peel off the tough outer leaves (in general about 30% of the leaves are removed) until you arrive at the tender part. Remove the fuzz and then cut off the hard stem up to the base so that it can sit up straight. Place the cleaned and peeled artichoke in the cold water and lemon juice (this maintains the color).
- In a relatively deep sauce pan fill it with water (about 80%) and about a T spoon of salt and bring to a boil for approximately 10-12 minutes or until tender.
- Take out a bowl and pool together the egg yolks and blend in the ricotta cheese and mix with seasoning to taste.
- With the egg whites, beat them in a smaller bowl then add it to your ricotta, parmesan and yolk mixture however be careful not to over mix as you dont want the mixture to collapse.
- Preheat your oven to about 350 F (180 c)
- In a baking dish (big enough for all the artichokes to sit up-right without layering them).
- Carefully open the artichokes (dried by this time) and scoop about a T spoon of your ricotta cheese mixture into the center of the artichokes and then place each filled wonder into the baking dish (I often pour about a tablespoon of olive oil on the bottom of the baking dish before placing the artichokes to rest).
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until the ricotta mixture becomes golden.

ENJOY !!!!