In Rome, we love them. They take a long time to cook, and are generally served gratinated or fried for guests, or simply boiled with oil and lemon when you’re at home. The preparation time, both in cleaning and boiling them, is so long that I wish I could find a trattoria or a restaurant that serves them… but no… I have to make them myself!
They’re delicious.

Gratinated Cardoons

  • Preparation time: 120 minutes
  • Ingredients for 6 servings
  • Difficulty: Average difficult recipe

  • Ingredients
  • 1 bunch of cleaned cardoons
  • 50 grams of butter
  • 200 grams of grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 lemon
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  1. Instructions
  2. Clean the cardoons, removing the stringy stems and tough ribs, and cut them into 8 cm pieces.
  3. Immerse them in a bowl of water with the juice of one lemon.
  4. Bring a large pot of salted water and milk to a boil. Cook the cardoons for about thirty to forty minutes at a simmer. Drain and let cool.
  5. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
  6. Butter a baking dish well. Arrange the cardoons on the bottom and pour melted butter and Parmesan cheese over them. Add a second layer and top with more melted butter and Parmesan cheese.
  7. Bake for about thirty minutes until they form a crust.
  8. Remove from the oven and let the cardoons rest, covered, for at least five minutes before serving.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • Using a paring knife, trim the cardoons stalks of their leaves and prickly bits along the edges, as well their filaments and any discolored bits. After you finish trimming a stalk, cut it into whatever lengths you like and immediately place the pieces into a large bowl of water which you will have acidulated with a freshly squeezed lemon.
  • The cardoons should be boiled in water acidulated with lemon juice and a little white flour. This process is called blanching and prevents the cardoons from turning black. As always, the water used to boil them shouldn’t be too hot: it should just simmer. I use milk instead to make them sweeter.
  • Wild cardoons should be boiled for at least a couple of hours.