My favourite recipe in the book - it reminds me of Angelica, the cook in the house my parents used to rent in Asolo, in the foothills of the Dolomites. I love the whole palaver of artichokes: pulling the leaves off and dipping them into the rich sauce, until you get to the soft heart, which you dunk and eat all in one go.
For 6-8:
1-2 small artichokes per person
Salt
For the sauce:
4 eggs, hard-boiled and shelled
1 very large bunch of soft green herbs (half flat-leaf parsley and the rest a mixture of chives, fennel, dill and/or coriander, or one of these)
2 tins of anchovy fillets, drained and finely chopped
About 300ml extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Black pepper
Cook your artichokes in boiling salted water for about 40 minutes. Drain them in the sink, face down, for 5 minutes and, when they've cooled a bit, give each a squeeze to get rid of any remaining water.
You can roughly chop the ingredients for the sauce in a food processor, but you want a coarse texture, not a purée, so it's best done by hand. I break up the eggs roughly with the back of a fork and chop the herbs and anchovies with a sharp knife. Mix the whole lot together with the oil and vinegar in a large bowl. You won't need much salt because of the anchovies, but add plenty of pepper.
Give everyone an artichoke on a plate with enough room for a good dollop of sauce.
You'll need a large bowl on the table for the discarded leaves (these make great mulch for the garden).
