Cream of cardoon soup
1kg (2 1/4 lb) cardoons
1 lemon
4 eggs
4 tbsp strong pecorino cheese
1.5 l (2 1/2 pt/ 6 1/3 cups) meat (see pxxx) or vegetable (see pxxx) stock
Remove the stringy filaments from the cardoon sticks with a sharp knife or potato peeler. Cut a lemon in half, and rub the cardoon with lemon to stop it turning black. Cut the sticks into 5cm (2 in) lengths, then cook them in boiling water for about one hour, until a fork can be stuck into them easily. Drain them and blend them in a food processor. Sieve the pulp to remove any remaining filaments. In a saucepan, bring the stock to the boil and add the cardoons. Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt and the grated pecorino cheese, and add black pepper. Remove the soup from the heat, add the egg mixture and return the saucepan to the stove, stirring constantly until it comes to the boil. Serve with croutons.
I’ve given this recipe to many English friends who were familiar with cardoons by sight but had no idea what to do with them in the kitchen. Hopefully, they’re now becoming a very popular ingredient!
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