While walking on the street thinking about how to use three artichokes I had in the fridge, I had the idea for this recipe.
Piadina is a thing made of flour you can stuff, a bit like a crepe. It’s typical of Emilia-Romagna, an Italian region (maybe you heard about Bologna, Modena, Ferrara, Rimini, Milano Marittima…), and it’s a street food.
I don’t know if around the world you can buy ready-to-stuff piadina at the supermarket, but in Italy the answer is yes. However, I prefer to make them at home because I don’t like the preservatives in industrial ones.
Quantities for 2 serves.
Artichoke cream
3 artichokes, a little bit of a sweet onion / shallot, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon
Enjoy artichokes’ coloured and geometrical beauty!
Clean the 3 artichokes: remove the exterior leaves, all the sharp points and the hairy portion in the inner part. Cut them in fine slices. Put the slices in a bowl with water and lemon juice, for the artichokes not to oxidize. Then brown the chopped onion in a pan with oil, and add the artichokes. Add salt and cook with a cover for about 20 minutes, until cooked. Then blend it, with some oil if necessary and ground pepper if you like. To make the cream without fibres, pass it in a strainer.
Piadina
You need a wide pan, like mine (thanks to my best friends for this gift!), from the “Chef à porter” Aeternum Bialetti crepes sets.
The ingredients are simple: for 2 piadinas, 150 g of white flour, a little bit of salt, a little bit of sugar, and a generous teaspoon of lard (I used clarified butter but I think ordinary butter works well too).
Mix these ingredients in a bowl, then add approximately half glass of warm water. Add a little water at a time and knead well the dough until it becomes a non-sticky ball.
Time to divide the dough in two parts and roll them out with a rolling-pin (I suggest to do it over some baking paper with flour, for the piadina not to attach at the work top). Make two round and thin piadinas and cook them one at a time in the wide pan (do no add anything else in the pan for the cooking) over a low/medium heath, taking care not to burn or dry too much the piadina (when cooked, you should be able to fold it in the half).
Assembling
Spread the cream over half part of the piadinas, cover with some slices of Brie and some slices of ham. Fold the piadinas in the half and put them again in the pan for the Brie to melt.
Eat hot this italian fast/slow food!!!
Speaking of artichokes and italian products..
Do you know Libera Terra Products?
Libera is an association fighting against mafia, and Libera Terra is the part of this association that works to confiscate the large lande estates in South Italy owned by the mafia, and to do organic farming and cultural events over them.
Libera Terra artichokes’ pot is simply amazing!!!! (thanks mum)
Here the link to look and buy this healthy, perfect tasting and social helpful italian products (in Italy you can found them also in shops): La Bottega di Libera Terra
SaraInCucina 