Sicilian stuffed artichokes and pasta (cacocciula)

Ingredients

• 3 nice round artichokes (not the pointy ones!)
• A handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley
• A couple cloves of garlic (1 or 2 per artichoke)
• A small potato, cut into small pieces (about thumb sized)
• 3 hard boiled eggs, quartered
• 6 chunks of romano or asiago cheese (about thumb-sized)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound of pasta
• Freshly grated romano or asiago cheese, for serving

Directions

1. Wash the artichokes. Cut and reserve the stems.
2. Peel and quarter the stems lengthwise. Set aside.
3. Put the artichoke pointy-side down on a cutting board. Push down hard to loosen the leaves.
4. Stuff each artichoke with parsley, artichoke stem, garlic, potato, hard boiled egg, and cheese wedges. Top with a little salt and some freshly cracked black pepper.
5. Boil salted water in a dutch oven. Place artichokes in with water about halfway up. Reduce to simmer and cover with the lid cracked.
6. Simmer for about an hour or a little more. Artichokes are done when you can pull a leaf from the middle easily.
7. Once done, remove artichokes from water and set aside to cool. Bring water back to a rolling boil for cooking the pasta.
8. Serve artichokes with pasta, freshly grated cheese, salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

• This is written down from memory of a dish my grandmother made. There are no measurements of anything.
• Any type of pasta will work here, but I’ve always used angel hair. Gnocchi is also a great choice.
• The artichoke broth freezes well for multiple batches of pasta later, if you’d like. It also makes for flavorful risotto.
• Not to start a flamewar about varieties of cheese, but do get high-quality cheese and grate it yourself.