Carciofini Sott’Olio – preserving baby artichokes under olive oil

I’ve been missing artichokes this winter. I’m in the US and while I see them in the stores, they just aren’t as fresh and beautiful as what I get in Italy, plus the price is astrological. So I’ve been missing them. Sometimes I succeed in talking the produce manager into discounting old artichokes he won’t be able to sell, but generally not. Apparently they’d rather throw them out than sell them cheap, but I keep trying!

So I was thrilled yesterday to find a beautiful pile of firm, fresh baby artichokes at a little produce store, and I snapped them up and ran home to preserve them, pretending I was in Tuscany, which I will be again shortly.

The Tuscans preserve most of their vegetables under oil, as opposed to southern Italy where they tend to preserve things in vinegar, pickling vegetables like eggplant or peppers, or the mix of carrots, celery, cauliflower and onions known as “giardiniera”. In Tuscany we preserve “sott’olio”, or under oil, grilled eggplant and zucchini and fresh porcini or chanterelles when they’re in season. But artichokes are especially good under oil and very easy to make, although a little labor intensive on the front end.

Baby artichokes are especially plentiful in the spring. Contrary to popular belief, they are not a variety of artichoke, but actually what any artichoke plant will bear after the adult bud has been picked. With almost no choke at all and with the exception of a few layers of outer leaves, the whole thing is edible.

Cut off the top of the artichoke, peel off and throw away the outer dark green leaves and carefully peel the stem. Bring to a boil a mixture of white wine vinegar (or cider vinegar), white wine and water, enough to cover the artichokes, add them and boil for no more than 4 minutes. Take them out and drain them upside down on paper towels. After a few hours remove them to a rack and allow them to airdry at least 12 hours.

Next get large jars that have been sterilized in the dishwasher, and pack the artichokes in, layering them with whole garlic cloves and a sprig of mint, pressing them down to compact them in the jars and squeeze the air out. Cover them with good quality extra virgin olive oil, making sure that the oil completely covers every bit of artichoke, mint, or garlic, with a good ½” on top. If any food is exposed to the air, mold will grow and you’ll have to throw the whole thing out. Believe me, it’s a tragedy when that happens.

You don’t need to run them through a hot bath to seal the jars. That actually will cook the artichoke more and heat the oil, which changes the flavor. The oil acts as a natural seal, preserving the vegetable in the semi-crisp state that it was blanched in.

These will keep for months and are wonderful on an antipasto platter or in a salad. They make a wonderful warm dip pureed with garlic and a little mayonnaise, and the oil can be reused in a salad dressing.

This is just the beginning of the preserving season, followed soon by spring strawberries and early summer cherries and mulberries. But more on that later. Buon Appetito!