THREE GREAT
RECIPES FOR
VEGANS
FROM “COOKING WITH THE CHICKENS!”
Artichokes – Ascoli Piceno Style!
The mountain region of Ascoli Piceno is situated north of Rome. Artichokes have
been enjoyed by farmers and nobles for centuries – well, millennia! This recipe is
easy, unique and delicious. It preserves and highlights the natural flavor of the
artichoke. The following recipe’s origin has disappeared in time. Yes, it is that old!
Ingredients:
3 medium to large artichokes
2 garlic cloves
Olive Oil
Directions:
Prepare the artichokes. Lay the flower bud (artichokes are unopened flowers of the thistle
plant - cardoons) on its side and cut of the top half inch. Using scissors, snip off the sharp
points of each of the outer hard, green petal-shaped bracts. Use your thumbs to “open” up the
flower bracts – you want to loosen up the interior. Cook the artichokes immediately after
cutting, as they will discolor.
If you want to serve artichoke halves, cut them now. They will fall apart after cooking.
Set the artichokes topside up, stem end down in the pot, and cover them with water. Add a
tablespoon of salt to the water.
Bring the pot to a boil, turn the temperature down to medium and simmer the artichokes for
25-30 minutes (halved artichokes will cook faster).
The artichokes are done when a knife or skewer easily slides into the base (texture is like a
cooked potato). Drain the artichokes and place them in a serving bowl.
Heat ¼ cup of olive oil in a saucepan. Add the sliced garlic and salt to taste. Heat until the
garlic is fragrant – do not burn or brown the garlic!
Modern twist: Instead of salt try adding soy sauce. They didn’t have soy sauce in Ascoli Piceno
but it really enhances the taste of the artichoke!
Pasta – The Real Way!
Making pasta is all about feel. I made it with my grandmother. We never used any recipe.
You don’t need any.
Just jump right in and make the dough. Too dry? Add some water. Too wet? Add more flour. I
hate rules and you don’t need them. Go ahead and wing it —and around here that really is
literal!
Ingredients:
2 eggs (your own or a friend’s …see Note)
2 cups of flour (white flour, semolina or whole wheat pastry flour)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Directions:
The old-fashioned, traditional method involves a nice cold slab of granite or a wooden board.
Dump the flour on the board and mound it up. Push into the center of the mound with your
fist and use a circular motion to make a well. Into this well you will add your beaten eggs, egg
replacer or water. Pour in the tablespoon of olive oil too.
How it works:
You slowly build the dough by pulling the flour from the well. The well will “break” so you have
to be ready to seal any leaks in the dam. Keep pulling in the flour until the dough forms. The
dough is ready when it can be kneaded. It will be sticky. Add more flour so that you can work
with it. It should feel like good bread dough. Knead the pasta dough for a few minutes until it
is no longer overly sticky.
Less Messy:
I do not use the traditional well method. While fun, it is quite messy, as all fun things are.
Throw everything into a large bowl and stir. So much easier and the results are the same.
“Yawn”
The dough needs to rest. Wrap the ball in a damp towel or plastic wrap and set it aside. You
can refrigerate it if you want, or if you won’t be using it the same day. The dough needs to take
a nap for at least a half hour. If you do not do the nap step the glutens in the pasta will remain
in a ”resistant” mood. You won’t be able to roll it out.
“Oh, cut it out”
You now have dough that can do anything.
Exciting.
Linguine, ziti, lasagna, ravioli, spaghetti, angel hair….
Umm. OK. If you have a pasta maker, do your thing. Grandma did it all by hand.
By hand:
Cut the ball into 4 pieces. Lightly flour a large board. Roll out the dough until you have a thin
square. It should be barely ¼ inches. Don’t be shy with the flour.
Let the four pasta sheets air dry. Grandma set towels on the tables for the sheets to dry. Some
people even set them on towels over their beds! Clever. Drying time varies by atmospheric
conditions. Check for the pasta sheets to be leathery (too wet – you will go nuts with the
sheets sticking… too dry - and they will become brittle).
Pasta!
Take the sheet and fold it over onto itself like you are folding a jellyroll. Take your knife, dip it
flour and slice strips (thickness depends on what you want) from the short end of the roll. Toss
the strips in flour (light amount of flour). Cook immediately or let dry. The pasta can be frozen
in this state.
Lasagna and ravioli will not be folded and cut. Simply cut the lasagna as wide as you want – it
will swell and “grow” during cooking.
*Note: If you do not have your own birds and cannot source humane/no-slaughter flocks, replace
the eggs with water. You can also use egg-replacer.
Ye Olde Polenta
This is the total deal. It is from Italy. All polenta is…well... it’s Italian gruel. But, if you call it
polenta, you can serve it at fancy parties. No Italian understands this. Polenta is NOT gourmet
fare, but it sure is the type of comfort food we expect! Just like lentil soup, every once in a
while you WANT some polenta. Seriously, passing out gruel in these fancy restaurants and
giving it the name “polenta” is a huuuuge joke. If you can boil water you can make your own
“polenta.”
Ingredients:
Water, cornmeal and salt. Wow, are we at the Maison Bourgeois? What you will need:
3 ½ cups water (use imported mineral water if you want to be upscale)
3 ½ ounces cornmeal or ½ + 1/3 cup (course ground cornmeal or special “polenta” cornmeal)
Salt (to taste)
Directions:
Boil the water and add the salt (we add ¼ teaspoon). Whisk in the cornmeal. Let the meal
cascade lightly into the boiling water. Whisk constantly to avoid lumps.
Continue whisking and lower the heat. This stuff will erupt like Vesuvius. Be careful. Pull the
pan from the heat if it gets too wild. You may need to lower the heat to VERY low.
Switch to a wooden spoon at this point. Mix and stir - get deep into the pan’s corners to
prevent sticking. Cooking time runs from 25-30 minutes. When the polenta begins to thicken
and come away from the sides of the pan it is ready.
Remove from the pan. You can stir in whatever you like. We add cracked pepper and more salt
if needed – taste first. You can add vegan butter or olive oil. We always used to add
homemade tomato sauce. It is pretty good with sauce.
Chill leftovers in a pan. You can cut the polenta into squares and toast in a sauté pan, bake or
grill the squares.
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