CookEat Recipe
Artichoke Sformato
A delicate hot artichoke mould, enriched with eggs, Parmesan and a little buttery white sauce.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: About 6 tender artichokes, enough for approximately 450 g trimmed hearts and peeled stems; 4 eggs, beaten; 30 g grated Parmesan; 15 g butter: 10 g for the white sauce and 5 g for the mould; 50 ml milk; 2 g plain flour, weighed; Salt; A small pinch freshly grated nutmeg; Water for boiling and the water bath.
Step 2
Remove the tough outer artichoke leaves, cut off the hard tips and peel the stems, keeping their full edible length. Quarter the artichokes and remove any fibrous choke. Cook the quarters and stems in boiling salted water for just 5 minutes. Drain thoroughly. Pound in a mortar or chop very finely, then work firmly through a fine sieve, discarding the tough fibres and retaining the smooth pulp.
Step 3
Melt 10 g butter with the flour in a small saucepan. When the flour just begins to colour, gradually stir in the milk and cook gently until smooth and lightly creamy. This makes about 3 tablespoons of rich white sauce; use the whole small batch.
Step 4
Mix the artichoke pulp with the white sauce, Parmesan, salt and nutmeg. Taste and adjust before adding the eggs. Let the mixture cool until no longer hot, then stir in all four beaten eggs. Do not taste the mixture raw after adding eggs; cook a small test spoonful to 74°C if further seasoning needs checking.
Step 5
Heat the oven to 160°C. Butter a smooth 1¼-litre mould with the remaining 5 g butter and line its base with a fitted piece of baking paper. Fill with the artichoke mixture. Set in a deep roasting pan and add hot water halfway up the sides. Bake for about 40–55 minutes, or until set and at least 74°C in the centre. Rest briefly, turn out onto a warm dish, remove the paper and serve hot.
Step 6
If the artichokes are particularly tender, leave the drained quarters and stems in small pieces instead of sieving them. A tablespoon or two of prepared reduced meat jus may be stirred into either mixture before the eggs.
Step 7
For a ring with a meat-stew centre, use a buttered smooth ring mould of the same capacity and cook as above. Separately cut 300 g veal into small cubes. Soften it gently in 20 g butter, season with salt and pepper, add about 250 ml prepared meat broth and simmer covered for 40–60 minutes, until tender and at least 74°C. Add broth if needed, then reduce to a light coating jus. Spoon the hot stew into the centre of the hot unmoulded ring. These stew ingredients are additional to the plain sformato; allow about 30 minutes extra if the stew cannot be cooked alongside it.
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