The Sunny Kitchen - An Italian cook in Amsterdam

Christmas in your mouth: palline di buccia d'arancia candita - candied orange peel balls

Photo: Jan Bartelsman

This is a recipe from my childhood and from my second cookbook "Cucina di casa mia - Recepten van een Italiaanse familie". To me this little treat really embodies THE taste of Christmas.

During winter my Grandma Isa and Grandpa Angelo always ate lots of citrus fruits, especially oranges. After dinner there was always a bowl of fruit on the table, even after the big Christmas lunches where we had more than enough to eat. Oranges were their favourite fruit. I think they ate quite a few kilos per week, the two of them together. Their house always smelled of orange peel, a wonderful smell for my young nostrils.

These fragrant orange peel balls are a great example of 'recycling' in the kitchen: my grandmother made them before Christmas with all the left-over orange zest which would otherwise be discarded.
Nowadays I make them with organic oranges but then there was no choice: they were just oranges from the market.
My grandmother soaked the peel in cold water for a few days to remove the bitter taste of the white, softer part, then it was chopped, cooked in a water and sugar syrup and then rolled into little balls.

You can store these balls in a glass jar or a tin. They get harder with time but they stay very tasty and are great as a digestif - very handy after those heavy Christmas meals! - thanks to the essential oils in the orange peel.
When I was young I made them for my friends as a Christmas present because they all loved them.
If you store them in a pretty glass jar or tin they are very nice as a gift.
To make them even better, dip them  in melted dark chocolate (just half of their surface, so that you can still see the beautiful orange colour of the peel) and let them dry on a sheet of baking parchment.

Serve with a cup of strong espresso. Perfect combination!

 

PALLINE DI BUCCIA D'ARANCIA CANDITA - Candied orange peel balls

Preparation: 40 minutes  –  makes about 30 balls

500 gr organic orange peel, white part included
500 gr sugar + some extra sugar for rolling the balls in it
a little water

Soak the orange peels for a few days in a bowl with cold water and change the water regularly.

Remove the peel from the water, chop finely and bring slowly to the boil with the sugar and a little water. It is best if you use a non-stick pan.

If you notice that the mixture is too dry add a little bit of water and let it boil down further. The mixture should remain fairly soft so you can roll into balls after cooling it.

When the mixture has cooled, roll into balls the size of a walnut then roll the balls through the extra sugar.

Leave the balls to dry for half a day on a baking sheet.

Store them in glass or tins.

 

Gluten-free buckwheat lasagne with cheese and vegetables

In my search for good substitutes for durum wheat pasta (which I love VERY MUCH and which, since a few years, gives me belly aches *sigh*) I decided to try a completely gluten-free combination of buckwheat and rice flour. The result was so good that I'm definitely keeping this recipe to use in my "Healthy Italian Cooking" workshops.
I had already tried several alternatives to gluten pasta but the results didn't really make me happy. This version, on the contrary, is totally satisfying and beautifully smooth both to knead and to roll out with a rolling pin. I haven't even tried using a pasta machine since during my previous experiments the lack of gluten had made it impossible but I will try next time I prepare this.

For this new dough I used two very finely ground organic flours I bought in Italy where rimacinata (re-milled, thus ground twice) flour is quite common. If you could find very fine, powdery flours like the ones I've used it would be great, since I'm pretty sure some of the smoothness of the dough is due to this particular detail.

This dish is laborious but not difficult at all. You'll just need some time and patience to make the pasta and the béchamel sauce, sauté the veggies and assemble these scrumptious lasagne, plus of course some baking time (about 20-25 minutes).
I can assure you it's totally worth the while and I definitely encourage you to try this VERY yummy and healthy dish.
Should you want to make it with more traditional ingredients you can use half buckwheat flour and half, plain all-purpouse flour, or half buckwheat, 1/4th plain and 1/4th durum wheat flour for more bite, even though the buckwheat already gives a TON of bite. You can of course use another nut/cereal or normal milk instead of rice milk which usually has a very sweet taste. For these lasagne I used just a little béchamel sauce to give the dish a touch of sweetness which is totally OK, especially to compensate the slightly bitter after-taste of the buckwheat. 
If you use another type of flour containing gluten to make the béchamel prepare the sauce in the traditional way making a roux with flour and butter first (here you will find my recipe).
Enjoy!

Lasagne di grano saraceno con formaggio e verdure, senza glutine
(Gluten-free buckwheat lasagne with cheese and vegetables)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

LASAGNE:
160 gr. finely milled buckwheat flour
100 gr. finely milled rice flour or 100 gr. plain all-purpouse flour
some rice flour for dusting
2-3 medium-sized eggs
a pinch of salt

BÉCHAMEL SAUCE:
300 dl./1.2 cups rice or nut milk/plain milk
25 gr./1.5 tablespoon rice flour
a pinch of salt
a pinch of grated nutmeg

SAUTÉED VEGETABLES:
3-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 onion
2 small courgettes or 1/2 a big one
2 medium-sized carrots
2 handfuls of cooked string beans
some fresh marjoram leaves
salt and black pepper

PLUS:
60 gr./0.25 cups mild sheep cheese, in thin slices
40 gr./4 tablespoons grated pecorino romano cheese (Italian sheep cheese)
4 single-portion oven dishes
some extra virgin olive oil for greasing the oven dishes

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/392°F.

Prepare the veggies frying the peeled and diced onion and carrots in olive oil until slightly soft. Add the diced courgette and cook until tender. Add the cooked string beans (chopped in pieces) and the marjoram leaves and cook for 1 more minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste and leave to cool off.

Make the dough mixing all the ingredients in a bowl using a fork.
I used 2 whole eggs and 1 egg white. The quantity you need can vary based on the size of the eggs (the organic ones I used were quite small).
Once you obtain a course dough transfer the mixture on the working top and kneed further with your hands, adding more rice flour if the dough is too wet or some egg (white or yolk) if it's too dry. The dough has to be smooth, elastic and not sticky or dry.
Make a dough ball and leave it to rest wrapped in cling film. 
 
Prepare the béchamel sauce whisking together all the ingredients except for the nutmeg and slowly bringing the mixture to a boil. Let it thicken while gently stirring it (don't let it become too thick). Season with grated nutmeg.

Roll out the dough with the rolling pin trying to make it as thin as possible, then cut in rounds or squares (I had round oven dishes of about 9 cm/3.5 inches of diameter).
Cook the rounds or squares of dough in boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes and lay them in a bowl with cold water in which you have dissolved a bit of salt.

Grease the oven dishes with 1 teaspoon of olive oil each and add 1-2 spoons of béchamel sauce. Make layers with the cooked lasagne, some veggies, a bit of sliced mild pecorino cheese, some black pepper and a couple of spoons of béchamel then start all over again. 
End with veggies, a bit of béchamel and a generous sprinkle of grated pecorino romano.

Bake in the hot oven for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

 

 

Not Exactly Italian: fusion fresh spring rolls

 

I totally love fresh spring rolls, both the Thai and the Vietnamese versions. I'm completely addicted to the pleasant chewiness of the rice paper and the crunchiness of the raw vegetables and I can eat them for at least a couple of days in a row. I just vary the filling and never get tired of them.

Last weekend I had an oriental cooking evening with a bunch of friends at my cooking school and we made both fried spring rolls and fresh ones. For the fried version we used wheat wrappers and we filled both types with the same ingredients, including sautéed shrimps. Both very yummy, and yet my BIG preference goes to the fresh, rice ones.
I made them again the day after and again yesterday (I told you I'm addicted...). This is a bit of a fusion recipe since I've never seen original oriental spring rolls made with shredded beets but the fact that I've never seen them doesn't mean they do not exist.

They're super easy to make, the only work needed is transforming the veggies into a nice julienne. If you have a food processor that does it for you then that's easily done. I did it by hand using a special julienne peeler because I like the thinness of the veggies - carrot and red beet - once they've been shredded like this. 
Spring onions, avocado and mint were the other fresh ingredients, and instead of shrimp this time I used grilled organic chicken marinated in sesame oil and a bit of salt. A sprinkle of white sesame seeds for the extra crunch was the finishing touch.
I dipped them in soy sauce first and immediately after in hot sriracha sauce. Total yumminess.

I've also made a vegetarian version filled with rucola, avocado, carrot, Parmesan cheese flakes and roughly chopped Brazil nuts. You can also use cashews, previously soaked in cold water for a few hours. Very nice variation!

TIP:
There's a beautiful tutorial on how to make Vietnamese spring rolls by Whiteonricecouple and you can find it here.

Hope you'll enjoy this version as much as I did.

Fusion spring rolls

Serves 2 (about 10 rolls)

1 medium-sized chicken breast
sesame oil
salt
3 spring onions
1 medium-sized carrot
1 small red beet, raw and peeled
1 small ripe avocado
white sesame seeds
a few sprigs of fresh mint
Vietnamese rice paper sheets (about 22 cm)
soy sauce
sriracha

Massage the chicken breast with sesame oil and a pinch of salt and leave to rest for about 15 minutes.
Grill the chicken until well done and nicely striped, let it cool and cut into thin strips.

Shred the beet and the halved carrot (julienne) and slice the spring onions into thin strips of about the same length of the julienned vegetables.
Dip a rice paper sheet into a bowl of cold water for a few seconds until it's soft and pliable and lay it on the working surface (you can put it on a wet towel but I noticed that the ones I used - see photo - didn't stick to the chopping board I was using as a working surface anyway).
Fill each rice paper sheet - only the lower part, the one closer to you - with a bit of vegetables, a couple of strips of grilled chicken, some thin slices of avocado, a few mint leaves and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Leave the sides free.
Start rolling and tuck the filling while you roll.
Fold the sides of the rice paper sheet to make sure the filling stays inside and roll until completely sealed.
Repeat with the rest of the ingredients and dip your spring rolls soy sauce and sriracha for some extra zing.

It's Friday, let's choc! Date, pecan and raw cocoa truffles

 

It's Friday, let's celebrate with something sweet, delicious and totally healthy: my date, pecan and raw cocoa truffles!
Made in a matter of minutes they're perfect to satisfy that choc craving that gets me from time to time.
Just blitz all the ingredients in the food processor, roll and eat!
To make them look more "truffly" you could also roll them in cocoa powder. Why not?
The quantities are enough for about 10 small truffles. You only see 8 in the pic because, of course, I couldn't resist popping two of them into my mouth while making the pictures. :)
Enjoy and have a happy Friday!

Ingredients for 10 small truffles:

110 gr. pitted Medjoul dates
50 gr. shelled pecans
2 heaped spoons of raw cocoa powder

Mix in the food processor to reach the desired chunkiness, roll and eat. Add some extra cocoa powder for a more compact texture and a stronger chocolaty taste. 
Even better after a couple of days in the fridge (they get a little bit more compact).

Roasted fennel with orange, red onion and Taggia olives

This is my alternative take on a classic Sicilian dish, a wonderful fresh salad made with raw fennel, orange and black olives (you can find my version here on my Dutch blog).

It's easy to make, super good, very tasty and perfect for a Summer dinner outside (I prefer to avoid the term al fresco since in Italian it mainly means "in prison"...). :D
I love oven-baked veggies even in Summer. After all, the temperatures here in The Netherlands are seldom so high that I don't feel like using my beloved oven.
Extra bonus you get with this dish: the small Taggia olives (my favourite black olives produced in my birth region Liguria) become nice and crunchy. Such a great, tasty texture and a real explosion of "Taggianess" in your mouth!

TIP: remember to leave part of the core of fennel and onions so that the layers of each wedge will stay together. This improves the beauty of the dish and prevents fennel and onions from getting burnt too easily.

Finocchi al forno con cipolle rosse, arancia e Taggiasche

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 or 2 big fennel bulb, cleaned and quartered
1 organic orange, well washed
2 or more red onions, peeled and quartered
a few Taggia olives
a few oregano sprigs
extra virgin olive oil
salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven at 180°C (356 F).

Slice the orange not too thickly and lay the round slices in an oven dish covered with baking parchment.

Lay the fennel and onion wedges on top of the orange slices, tuck the oregano underneath them and drizzle with olive oil.

Season with salt and pepper to taste and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, depending on the oven you have.

Serve with a little drizzle of e.v. olive oil.

 

No-knead spelt bread with Taggia olives

A few years ago (around 2006) the world of bread-baking and bread-loving food bloggers was positively shaken and forever changed by a revolutionary and wonderful no-knead bread by Jim Lahey, a baker from New York who decided to share with the world his incredibly simple and yet marvellously effective recipe.
"So easy that a 4-year old can make it!" was Lahey's description of his beautifully crusty concoction (you can see him here in a video in which he explains how to make his fantastic bread together with Mark Bittman of the NY Times).
Everybody in food blogging land baked it, changed it, improved it (or tried to), and enjoyed it. Nobody was immune to the charm of this incredible bread made in a cast-iron pan!

Nobody but me. Since a few days ago I used to just sporadically make my own no-knead ciabatta based on a recipe I found on an Italian blog (Cookaround), which I always use during my cooking courses. Then the "baking bug" which had seemed to totally ignore me until now (I never really had the wish to bake anything before a few weeks ago when I started thinking about this new spelt bread of mine) bit me and now I'm experimenting with flour, yeast and other ingredients.
Better late then never? Who knows.
What I do know for sure is that this bread is incredibly easy and SOOOOOO good that I'll make it again and again and again!

The ingredients are really simple, including some time and a bit of patience: the first raising phase lasts at least 12 hrs (longer is even better) but you can make the dough before going to bed and leave it to raise on a warm spot away from drafts until the morning after. The texture will be very stringy and sticky but don't get discouraged by it: you will add about 50-70 gr. more spelt flour after the first raising phase and then leave the dough to rest for another 1,5 hr.
It's important to dust your hands with flour really well and to use a large dough spatula to lift the very soft dough so that you can drop it really fast in the hot cast-iron pan. If it's not perfectly round, don't worry: the dough will adjust itself during baking time, raising further and creating a beautiful structure: crunchy on the outside and soft, slightly moist and beautifully alveolated inside.
For tips on how to handle the dough watch Jim Lahey's video (see link above).
You'll find more pictures under my recipe.

TIPS: use Taggia olives (the beautiful little black olives from my birth region Liguria) preserved in oil since the oil will give the dough extra smoothness and taste.
The mixing of the basic ingredients can be simply done with a fork. Once the dough is coarse but already formed you can add olives and herbs and mix a little further with the fork.
The cast-iron pan (with lid!) I used has a diameter of about 19-20 centimeters. If you only have larger pans make twice as much dough.

Enjoy your baking!

 

No-knead spelt bread with Taggia olives

Ingredients:

300 gr. organic spelt flour + 100 gr. extra for adding later & dusting
3 dl. lukewarm water
15 gr. fresh baking yeast (or 5 gr. dry yeast)
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1-2 twigs of fresh rosemary or some dried rosemary or oregano, finely chopped
2 handfuls of Taggia olives with a little bit of their preserving oil

Sift the flour in a big bowl to avoid lumps.

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and add to the flour. Mix with a fork, then add the salt and briefly mix further.

Add the coarsely chopped olives and the finely chopped rosemary (or oregano) and mix a bit longer.

Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to raise overnight on a warm spot.

Using a big dough spatula remove the dough from the bowl, lay it on a working surface well dusted with spelt flour and sieve about 50-70 gr. of extra flour over it. Gently mix it in the dough without pressing too much to make the mixture is a little less sticky, then dust the upper part of the dough with more flour and cover with a tea towel.
Leave to rest for 1,5 hr.

About 20 minutes before putting the bread in the oven preheat the oven to 270°C and put the pan (not the lid) in the oven to get really hot.

Once the dough has rested and the pan is really hot lift the dough from the working surface and let it fall into the hot pan.
Cover with the lid and put in the oven for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for 10-15 more minutes (check how it goes from time to time).
Lower the heat to 210°C and bake for 10 more minutes.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool off in the pan or on a grill.
It will come out of the pan really easily.

Enjoy!

 

 

Cotolette di finocchio (fried fennel "cutlets")

This is a very simple and yet extremely tasty side dish prepared with one of the most common and popular Italian vegetables.

The lovely, meaty, pure white fennel bulbs can be used in so many ways: from raw (wonderful in salads) to steamed, boiled, braised, sautéed and au gratin, for example with a simple béchamel sauce enriched with lots of nutmeg and melted, golden and bubbly Parmigiano. 
They're also absolutely perfect for frying. Fennel stimulates the digestive process so the heaviness of this preparation is gently compensated by the amazing qualities of this beautiful vegetable.

When cutting fennel to make "cutlets" you loose a bit of the bulbs, since not all of the slices manage to stay attached to the core. When that happens, it's no big deal: you can use the "loose bits" for salads, smoothies and other preparations like I do.

The nice, big slices are then cooked, dipped in beaten egg, coated with bread-crumbs and herbs and fried.
They're great just out of the frying pan, when they're still hot, but you can prepare them in advance and keep them warm in the oven at 90°C.

If you prefer to avoid deep-frying, shallow fry them in a bit of extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil or sunflower oil. Like this they turn out nice too.

Some of my music to go with this dish. :)

 

Cotolette di finocchio

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

3 fennel bulbs
2 eggs (3-4 if you use small organic eggs)
1 small bunch of fresh oregano (or marjoram) and sage (dried is OK too)
bread-crumbs
sunflower oil for deep frying or e.v. olive oil/coconut oil for shallow frying
salt and black pepper

Wash the fennel, remove the green stalks and cut the bulbs in slices. For this dish, use only the beautiful slices with all the leaves still attached to the core.

Cook the slices in boiling salted water and drain well.

Beat the eggs with salt, pepper and the chopped herbs (leaves only, no twigs).

Dip the slices of fennel in the beaten eggs and then roll them in the bread-crumbs.
Make sure that as many chopped herbs as possible stick to them too.

Deep-fry (or shallow fry in less oil) until golden brown and drain well on kitchen paper.

Enjoy!

Panzerotti

Panzerotti baresi (a typical dish from Bari) are a great pleasure to eat. When they’re hot, just out of the frying pan, they’re lightly crunchy (the fried golden dough on the outside) and moist and savoury inside (the tomato-mozzarella filling). You’ll have to pay attention to the volcanic temperatures of the filling when you bite into them, though!
They're a traditional, unmissable dish during New Year's Eve so make them tonight! (happy new year, btw! :D)
The ingredients are quite easy to find and you won't regret the little bit of effort they require. 

It had been months that my friend Claudio Varone and I where planning to make panzerotti. Claudio is an architect, an artist and a wonderful non-professional cook and he’s always ready to experiment in the kitchen with me. Frying is not my favourite thing to do – I can’t stand the smell! – but in my professional kitchen it’s a piece of cake thanks to the huge extractor hood that removes all the not so pleasant smells. So at last we decided it was time to prepare our very first panzerotti.

The experiment was definitely a success, we were really happy of the end result and so where the friends that shared the panzerotti with us.

Making panzerotti is not that difficult, you need a bit of patience and a few - practice makes perfect! - manual skills. This video recipe is a good visual help that complements the written recipe.

 

  

 

Panzerotti

Ingredients for A LOT OF PANZEROTTI:

1 kg. type ’00’ flour or plain flour
350 cl. milk
350 cl. bubbly mineral water
14  gr. dry yeast
5 tablespoons e.v. olive oil
1,5 spoons of salt dissolved in a bit of water
4 tins of canned chopped tomatoes (1 kg)
4 mozzarella’s of about 125 gr. each
oregano, salt and black pepper
a lot of sunflower oil for frying

Mound the flour on the table and slowly add olive oil and mineral water mixed with milk.
Kneed well.
Dissolve the yeast in 3 tablespoons of water and add it to the flour too.
Kneed until you obtain a relatively soft dough and then add the salt dissolved in a bit of water.

Kneed further until the dough becomes soft and elastic.
Make a dough ball, grease it well with olive oil to avoid drying and leave it to rest in a bowl covered with plastic foil after cutting a cross on it to ease the rising phase.

In the meantime you can strain the peeled tomatoes and the diced mozzarellas to eliminate the excess liquids.

Dust the table with flour and cut the dough in chunks. Make little dough balls and leave to rest on a kitchen cloth, covered with another kitchen cloth.

Mix peeled tomatoes and mozzarella chunks and season with salt, pepper and oregano.

Flatten the dough balls giving them a rounded shape and fill with some mozzarella-tomato mixture.

Seal each panzerotto well pressing the rim with your fingers and remove the excess dough with a pastry wheel.
Seal further using a fork and fry in abundant hot (180°C) sunflower oil, draining on kitchen paper once they’re golden brown.
Serve very hot.

 

Easy Easter brunch: egged tomatoes "Del Sole"

This is a small dish I prepare during the Detox workshops that I give together with Detox Coach Jacqueline van Lieshout and it's totally perfect for an easy, fast and nice-looking Easter brunch.

Use large, firm tomatoes and don't let them bake too long because otherwise they get too soft and break. I use small organic eggs so there's no danger of them flowing out of the tomatoes when still raw.
You can vary this dish with the herbs you have on hand. Fresh or dried oregano and marjoram go very well with the rest of the ingredients.

 

Pomodori del Sole (stuffed baked tomatoes)

Serves 4
 
Ingredients :
                        1 large tomato p.p.
                        1 clove of garlic
                        100 gr fresh spinach
                        4 small eggs
                        salt and black pepper
                        extra virgin olive oil
                        fresh basil leaves
                                some soft goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 180° C.
Cut the top off the tomatoes (like a lid, so not too much) and carefully remove all the seeds using a spoon.
Remove a small slice at the bottom of the tomatoes so they can stand upright in the oven dish without falling.
Season the empty tomatoes with a little salt, black pepper and some drops of olive oil.
Line a baking dish with parchment paper and place the empty tomatoes in it.
Cook the spinach in a few tablespoons of olive oil in which you have squeezed the peeled clove of garlic.
Fill the tomatoes partially with a little spinach and some torn basil leaves.
Fill each tomato further with a raw egg and season again with salt and pepper.
Cook the tomatoes in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until the desired consistency is reached.
Crumble the goat cheese on top of the tomatoes. You can do this just as the eggs come out of the oven or 5 minutes before. Serve hot.
Happy Easter!

 

 

Frittata di carciofi (artichoke frittata)

If I had to eat just ONE kind of vegetables my whole life I would probably opt for artichokes.
My love for this vegetable is immense.
I love their distinct flavor, their special texture and also the fact that they are not too easy to "handle".
You have to do some work if you want to enjoy them and in that they're just like life. :)

Every time I'm back to Puglia, the Italian region where I grew up and where they are massively grown, I have an envy attack.
Last time I went there I almost turned as green as an artichoke when I saw my favourite, thornless carciofi costing just 3 euros for 7 pieces at the market, grrrrrrrr!!!
Why are they so expensive here in Holland and, most of all, often old and sloppy???

Anyway, back to the preparation of this wonderful vegetable. Cleaning it is a lot work (see photos and recipe) and you eliminate quite a  lot of this amazing flower, as I often hear during my cooking workshops when I show how to do it.
So what? What you have after all that work is something totally DELICIOUS, so definitely worth the hassle!
And you can use it for a wonderful frittata just like I do.

If you don't know how to clean artichokes you can watch my video.  

FRITTATA DI CARCIOFI (artichoke frittata)

Serves 4-6

10 eggs
6-8 small artichokes
50 g grated Parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves
a bunch of flat-leaf parsley
salt and pepper
a splash of milk or cream
extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven at 180°C.

Clean the artichokes by removing the stems (which you can peel and use too like I did for this frittata! See TIP at the end of the recipe) then the hard, outer leaves (see how I do it in this video).

Place the artichokes in a bowl with cold water and a little lemon juice or vinegar so that they don't get dark. Leave them  in their "bath" for at least 10 minutes.

Meanwhile lightly beat the eggs with a dash of milk or cream, grated Parmesan, salt and pepper.

Cut the artichokes into thin slices and fry them in olive oil together with the crushed garlic cloves. They usually tend to get too dry so add a little hot water from time to time and let them gently cook until soft. Season with finely chopped parsley, salt and pepper.

Lay the artichokes in a baking dish lined with baking parchment.
Add the egg mixture and spread everything evenly inside the dish.

Bake the frittata in the oven for about 20 minutes or until it feels firm under your fingers and becomes golden brown.

Leave to cool a bit and serve lukewarm or at room temperature.

TIP: you can also eat the artichoke stems. First you have to trim the harder part around them and then put them in lemony water like the rest of the artichokes. After that you can stew or fry them together with the artichokes. 

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Video: how to clean small artichokes