• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Snapchat
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MsMarmiteLover

  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Vegan
  • Travel
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • UK
  • Wine
  • Gardens
  • Supperclubs/Events
  • About
    • Published Articles
    • Books
  • Shop
    • Cart

Jewish Italian food; artichoke season

March 11, 2023 Leave a Comment Filed Under: Books, Food, Food history, Italian food, Italy, London, Recipes, Restaurants, Travel, Vegan, Vegetarian

Roman-Jewish food is having a moment, two thousand years after Europe’s oldest Jewish community settled in that city.

Recently two books have been published celebrating Jewish-Italian food: ‘Cooking alla Giudia’ (Artisan Books 2022) by an Italian author, Benedetta Jasmine Guetta, who moved to the United States; and ‘Jewish flavours of Italy, a family cookbook’ (Green Bean 2022), by Silvia Nacamulli, who is local to North West London. Silvia moved to London from Rome as a student and since resides around the corner from me in Kilburn. Although she studied politics, she’s made her living as a teacher and cook, regularly providing recipes for the Jewish Chronicle.

She did a talk about her new cookbook this February with Guardian columnist Rachel Roddy at the JW3 centre on Finchley Road. ‘Jewish flavours of Italy’ has been ten years in the making; as well as recipes, it offers a history of Roman-Jewish food.

My particular interest is the classic Jewish dish of carciofi alla giudia which I ate last summer at a restaurant ‘Nonna Betta’ in the Jewish quarter of Rome. Unctuous, with soft layers of pasta slathered in cream and an artichoke perfume rising through a lightly browned cheese top, it was one of the best meals I’ve ever had.

It is now – January to April – artichoke season in Rome. Last month I visited Silvia at her sunlit kitchen to get tips on the correct type of artichoke and how to prepare it. There are two specific types: romanesco or mammole; the latter is currently available at Natoora via Ocado.com. (Whenever Silvia’s family visits London, they sneak over a suitcase full of the thistles.) If you can’t get hold of these particular ones, Guetta says any purple-leafed globe artichoke will do in a pinch, as they tend to be softer than the green.

Artichokes are a favourite food; a pfaff to prepare, admittedly – but well worth the effort. They are also very good for your health, being full of inulin, that is vegetable fibre. Inulin lowers blood sugar and blood pressure. We should aim to eat 30g of fibre a day.

How to prepare and trim artichokes for these dishes:

Peel until the leaves are half green
Peel back the fibrous parts of the stalk

Before starting, have a large bowl of water with half a lemon set aside where you will put all the prepared artichokes. Another lemon will be needed to rub all the exposed parts of the artichokes to prevent them from going black.

Take off all the large outer leaves until you have half pale green leaves. Trim the fibrous parts off the sides of the stalk, leaving the tender inner core.

Ideally you will have a special curved knife but any small knife will do. Cutting in a circular upwards stroke, trim off the hard purple parts of the leaves. It ends up looking like a pretty rose or peony flower. Scoop out the hard choke in the middle with a sharp spoon if making carciofi alla giudia.

Rub with lemon and leave in the water until all the artichokes are prepared.

carciofi alla giuria

Print

Carciofi alla Giudia

This is the recipe from Silvia's book 'Jewish flavours of Italy'. They also freeze well.
Course Starter
Cuisine Italian, Jewish, Jewish-Italian food, Roman
Keyword Artichokes Jewish style, Carciofi alle giudia, Nonna Betta, Roman style artichokes, Rome
Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 4 artichokes (Mammole also known as Romanesco or Cimarolo)
  • 2 lemons, quartered
  • Olive or sunflower oil, for frying
  • sea salt and black pepper

Instructions

  • Clean and trim the artichokes, acidulating the water with the lemon quarters.
  • Drain the prepared artichokes and pat dry. Smear the centre generously with salt and pepper.
  • The artichokes will be fried twice: first at 150ºC for 15-20 minutes. Drain and cool for a few minutes. With your fingers or 2 forks, open up the centre to resemble a sunflower. (You could freeze them at this point.)
  • Then refry at 180ºC until crisp. Serve immediately.

Print

Artichoke lasagne

I had this dish at Nonna Betta in Rome and have recreated it. It's unctuous, comforting and delicious.
Course Artichokes, Jewish-Italian dishes, Main Course, Vegetarian main course
Cuisine Italian, Jewish, Jewish-Italian food
Keyword Kilburn cook, Nonna Betta, Silvia Nacamulli
Serves 6

Ingredients

  • 6 to 8 mammole artichokes
  • 2 lemons
  • 60 g butter

Bechamel sauce

  • 60 g butter
  • 3 tbsp plain flour
  • 1 litre whole milk
  • salt and pepper

To construct the lasagne

  • 400 g lasagne sheets
  • 200 g parmesan, grated
  • 150 g mozzarella, sliced thinly

Instructions

  • First prepare the artichokes, following the instructions in the article, rubbing them with a cut lemon, quartering them and placing them in large bowl of water with a squeezed half lemon. Once completed, slice the artichokes thinly.
  • Using a deep frying pan, melt 60g of butter, add the artichoke slices and just cover them with water. Cook until soft.
  • In another pan make the béchamel sauce by melting butter, adding flour and slowly adding the milk, stirring all the time. Once the sauce is sufficiently cooked, thick with no lumps, add the cooked sliced artichokes.
  • Ready a large pan of boiling water with a large spoon of sea salt to cook the pasta sheets. Cook the lasagne sheets, making sure they don't stick to each other.

Constructing the lasagne

  • Grease a large baking tin with butter.
  • Preheat the oven to 200ºC
  • Have all of your ingredients, the artichoke béchamel sauce, the grated parmesan, the sliced mozzarella and the cooked lasagne sheets ready.
  • Cover the bottom of the baking tin with a layer of lasagne sheets
  • Add enough artichoke béchamel to cover the pasta
  • Add the grated parmesan and mozzarella slices.
  • Repeat this process until you have 3 layers of pasta.
  • Top the pasta with béchamel, parmesan and mozzarella.
  • Bake the artichoke lasagne for 30 minutes. Serve hot with a green salad.

Recent posts

Soup recipes for a broken arm

February 26, 2025

The future of farming

January 20, 2025

Poppy seed kifli pic: KERSTIN RODGERS

Hungarian poppy seed pastry ‘Kifli’ recipe

November 5, 2024

Previous Post: « Tinned fish recipes
Next Post: Smoked haddock chowder recipe in Suffolk »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover

msmarmitelover

My latest article on Hungarian cuisine, a unique m My latest article on Hungarian cuisine, a unique meeting of east and west, for @ckbk It's a blend of Ottoman, Eastern and middle European, Austro-Hungarian empire and cowboy food. #food&travel #foodanthropology #hungary
Made Fermented Cucumber dill pickles from @nickvad Made Fermented Cucumber dill pickles from @nickvadasz book The Pickle Jar. At @katzsdeli in New York they sell half sours and full sours. I reckon these are 3/4 sour. The white mould is fine btw. These are delicious #pickleperson #fermentation #guthealthy
London in bloom: wisteria, cherry blossom, lilac, London in bloom: wisteria, cherry blossom, lilac, plum blossom, 🌸 you don’t need to go to Japan for the Sakura season- it’s all here- london at its most beautiful. #london
Bluebell walk on Wanstead flats. The scent is incr Bluebell walk on Wanstead flats. The scent is incredible: similar to lily of the valley. These are actual English bluebells - a deeper colour & more delicate than Spanish bluebells which are rather invasive. #london #walks #april #bluebells
Snapshots from portobello rd market. Portuguese fo Snapshots from portobello rd market. Portuguese folar de pascua bread from Lisboa patisserie,  a gorgeous mosaic table from Fez, my favourite antique shop @muirshindurkin, Alice’s shop, an Easter hat, the best wisteria I wrote a substack on portobello road: https://open.substack.com/pub/kerstinrodgers/p/where-to-go-in-portobello-road-the?r=3873k&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true #london
I visited @tokyobagellondon with my granddaughter I visited @tokyobagellondon with my granddaughter yesterday to try one of their viral wobbly bunnies. We also tried the multi layer Oreo pancake cakes, the onigiri shaped croissant. My sister had the black sesame latte and I had yuzu tea. I spent £35 in a short space of time as each dessert was £5 but it was a fun experience. Ophelia said ‘lovely flowers’ which shows a degree of sophistication for a 2 year old. I preferred the strawberry to the coconut flavour . #londondaysout #grandmacore #easter
A quick high protein lunch of ratatouille with smo A quick high protein lunch of ratatouille with smoked tofu.  @pomoragoodfood olive oil then an aubergine cut into thick slices then quartered. Fry till translucent then add the chunks of red pepper. 2 fat garlic cloves sliced thinly, a block of smoked tofu in chunks, 2 bay leaves, a small handful of maldon salt. A courgette cut into thick half lengthways- then sliced into half moons. I might chuck in a handful of pantelleria capers in vinegar to give some acidity. Serve hot or cold. #sololunch #protein #vegetables
Inspired by @nickvadasz book The pickle Jar I used Inspired by @nickvadasz book The pickle Jar I used his dill pickles to make one of my favourite recipes for lunch - a potato, sour cream & pickle soup. Recipe on the blog. #soup #pickles
One of my favourite ways to eat mushrooms. Cook wh One of my favourite ways to eat mushrooms. Cook whole button mushrooms in olive oil, lemon juice, a little white wine vinegar, salt, bay leaves, whole coriander seeds, thyme, and white wine if you have it to hand. I used @pomoragoodfood olive oil. You can eat it straight away or leave it to marinate longer and eat the next day. #vegetarian #vegan #mushroomrecipe
Table side Caesar salad @maisonfrancois for @sienn Table side Caesar salad @maisonfrancois for @siennamarla birthday 🎂 #london #restaurants #caesarsalad
I went to sheffield to visit the @reclaimedbrickco I went to sheffield to visit the @reclaimedbrickcompany to look at their hand cut, wire cut and tumbled bricks for a herringbone patio. I love the historical aspect of bricks, the different quarries from different parts of the country. #patio #englishhistory story
Made brussel sprouts with pistachio pesto. The pis Made brussel sprouts with pistachio pesto. The pistachios came from Brontë in Sicily- they are the best pistachios in the world. You can make pesto with any nut: it’s usually with pine nuts but I’ve used hazelnuts, almonds (trapani), walnuts. #vegetarian #pesto #bronte
Bathroom palette: @firedearthuk scallop tiles @top Bathroom palette: @firedearthuk scallop tiles @toppstiles honed white marble skirting and dado @paintandpaperlibrary paint @sanderson1860 wallpaper this is my first rodeo when it comes to bathroom design. Follow my progress
Yesterday I cooked ( needed help with heavy pans a Yesterday I cooked ( needed help with heavy pans and pouring) pesto alle genovese. Made pesto in the vitamix: fresh basil leaves, 4 cloves garlic, 100g pecorino, 100g pine nuts, 150ml olive oil, salt, and juice of half a lemon. Whizz up.  Then cook the pasta - traditional shape is trofie but I only had fusilli. Top with small boiled potatoes and steamed green beans. Douse again with olive oil and more pine nuts. I served this with green salad with cucumber, avocado, pumpkin seeds and a mustard lemon olive oil dressing. #familylunch #sundaylunch #pestopasta #pestgenovese
Unstyled food photos no.4: butternut squash soup. Unstyled food photos no.4: butternut squash soup. Peel and cut up the butternut squash. Discard the seeds. Roast with olive oil, salt, smoked paprika in the oven for 30 minutes. Soften 2 brown onions in a deep pan with olive oil, add 3 cloves garlic minced, 3 bay leaves. Then add the veg stock powder and 1.5 litres hot water to the pan. Stir. Pour in the roast butternut squash. Cook for 10 minutes. Then remove the bay leaves and blend. Add 3 large scoops of natural yoghurt or skyr. Season to taste. Transfer back to the deep pan and serve with grated cheese, pumpkin seeds, chilli. 🌶️ #vitamix #soup #winterfood #agacooking
Unstyled food photos #3: roast cauliflower & garli Unstyled food photos #3: roast cauliflower & garlic cheese soup. Roast the cauliflower florets, unpeeled garlic cloves, one chopped brown onion in olive oil. Once golden, tip into a saucepan with a potato chopped small, 3 tbsps veg stock and 1.5 litres hot water. Boil till soft the. Add 100g cheddar. Stir then blend in a blender. Serve with grated cheese on top. #soup #vitamix #winterfood #cookingwithonehand #simplerecipes
Unstyled food photos: whole roast cauliflower with Unstyled food photos: whole roast cauliflower with ground almond crust, yoghurt, cumin, lemon juice and tahini sauce using @pomoragoodfood olive oil. First I parboiled the cauliflower then roasted it for 30 to 30 minutes with salt and olive oil in the oven. Add the ground almonds and bake for another 10 minutes. Then serve hot with the sauce. #highprotein #lowcarb #vegan #vegetarian #glutenfree
Unstyled food photos: carrot and preserved lemon s Unstyled food photos: carrot and preserved lemon soup. I’m eating a lot of soup as it’s easy to make with one hand and a vitamix. I roasted the carrots ( 1 kilo) in olive oil. Then boiled them with 2 tbsp veg stock, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp ground cumin and 2 litres hot water. For a thicker soup, add 1 tbsp of cornflour mixed with the stock juice and add. Once tender, I blended this with 2 whole preserved lemons, adding a little of the juice from the jar. Blend on medium then high. Serve with yoghurt. It’s a way of effortlessly eating a lot of vegetables in one meal. #winterfood #soup #vegetables
So hard to cook with one hand- screwing off lids, So hard to cook with one hand- screwing off lids, pouring, scraping, lifting pans. 3 more weeks with a cast. I’ve made a vegan mushroom Paprikash with cashew cream and acacia smoked paprika from a Hungarian paprika farm that I visited in October. #comfortfood #vegan #mushroom #paprikash
I wrote this long read on peat for @scotnational n I wrote this long read on peat for @scotnational national how Scottish whisky is infused with peaty smoky flavours particularly @bruichladdich my favourite. I used @worldofwhisky_official peaty advent calendar as a tasting opportunity. I also talked about new Scottish start up @peatdfoods and their peaty pasta sauces. Peat has incredible preservation qualities for bog butter and more gruesomely bog bodies ( which give such valuable information to archaeologists and historians.) plus the peat based cookery of the Shetland isles. #longread #foodwriting #peat #cookery
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Archives

Copyright © 2025 msmarmitelover