Cardoons Au Gratin
Instructions
Today we'll be cooking with Sonia a tasty vegetarian dish: the cardoons au gratin! The cardoons are not used very often, but they lend themselves to many recipes, thanks to their delicate taste... you'll be pleasantly surprised!
***
Today I'll suggest you a vegetarian recipe made with a not so common ingredient: the cardoons, au gratin. The cardoons have few calories and a sweet, delicate taste, similar to artichoke; if cooked in the right way, they can be a real delicacy. But let's see together what ingredients we'll need:
2,2 lbs (1 kg) of cardoons
less than cup (40 g) of grated parmesan cheese
1 lemon
2 tbsp of breadcrumbs
few knobs of butter
1 tbsp of coarse salt For the bchamel sauce:
1 cup (250 ml) of fresh whole milk
stick (25 g) of butter
2 tbsp (20 g) of flour
grated nutmeg
salt and pepper
Let's make together the cardoons au gratin:
Before cleaning the cardoons, rub your hands with lemon, since the cardoon tends to make your hands turn black, especially the fingers. So, cut off the base of the stem, that keeps together the bunch of cardoons, then remove and separate all the stalks, and trim any small leaves. If the cardoon is very big, cut into halves... lengthwise, then we'll remove the strings. With a small knife, nick the top of the stalk, and peel downwards to remove the strings. Do the same on the other side... it's more or less like peeling a celery. Once done, you can cut the cardoon into pieces... and soak in acidulated water, that is with lemon juice, to keep from turning brown. Go on this way until you've cleaned all the cardoons.
After peeling and cutting all the cardoons, wash well under cold running water and put in a pot to boil. With a pressure cooker you'll need about 15 minutes, while with a normal pot it will take 25 to 30 minutes, but taste for doneness, since the cardoon should be cooked yet still crunchy. Add the coarse salt... and proceed with cooking.
When the cardoons are cooked, drain and let them cool a bit. Now move on to prepare the bchamel sauce: put the butter in a saucepan to melt, add the flour and stir until it turns brown, then add the milk and, always stirring, the salt, the pepper and the nutmeg. When it's quite thick, remove from the heat and let it cool.
Now take a baking pan, mine is 8 by 12 inches, grease with butter and coat with breadcrumbs. Arrange the cardoons one next to the other to form the first layer... then sprinkle the parmesan cheese... and spread a bit of bchamel sauce. Proceed in the same way for the second layer.
Finish by dotting small knobs of butter over the top... and bake at 390F (180C) for about 30-40 minutes or until golden brown on the surface.
And here are the cardoons au gratin cooked to perfection; when you'll taste them, I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised by their taste. From Sonia and Giallozafferano, bye and see you next videorecipe.
