Equipment
Ingredients
Artichoke Preparation
- 4 globe artichokes, whole
- 2 lemon, halved
- 1000 ml water, cold
Pasta and Sauce
- 400 g fresh egg tagliatelle
- 30 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic, smashed
- 60 ml dry white wine
- 150 ml vegetable stock, warm
- 150 ml heavy cream
- 40 g unsalted butter, cold, cubed
- 80 g vegetarian hard cheese, finely grated
- 20 g fresh black truffle, cleaned
- sea salt
- black pepper, freshly cracked
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 525 kcal
- Protein
- 18 g
- Carbohydrates
- 48 g
- Fat
- 36 g
- Fiber
- 7 g
- Sugar
- 4 g
- Sodium
- 730 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 18 g
- Trans Fat
- 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 13 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 2 g
- Cholesterol
- 77 mg
- Potassium
- 444 mg
- Calcium
- 325 mg
- Iron
- 3.6 mg
- Magnesium
- 62 mg
- Phosphorus
- 242 mg
- Zinc
- 1.1 mg
- Vitamin A
- 265 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 12 mg
- Vitamin D
- 0.7 mcg
- Vitamin E
- 1.9 mg
- Vitamin K
- 18 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.2 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 0.3 mcg
- Thiamin
- 0.08 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.22 mg
- Niacin
- 1.1 mg
- Folate
- 56 mcg
- Water
- 364 g
- Alcohol
- 2 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
Fill a large bowl with the cold water and squeeze the lemons into it, dropping the halves into the bowl. Working one at a time, peel away the tough outer leaves of the artichokes until you reach the pale yellow core. Cut off the top spiky third, trim the dark green skin from the stem, slice in half vertically, and carefully scoop out the fuzzy choke with a spoon. Slice the hearts into 5mm thick wedges and immediately submerge in the acidulated lemon water.
Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add the smashed garlic cloves and gently cook until golden and fragrant, then discard the garlic.
Drain the artichoke wedges well and pat dry. Add them to the infused oil in the skillet. Pan-roast for a few minutes, turning occasionally, until they begin to take on a light golden color.
Pour the white wine into the skillet to deglaze, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Let it bubble and reduce until almost completely evaporated. Pour in the warm vegetable stock, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until the artichokes are completely tender.
While the artichokes braise, bring the large pasta pot filled with heavily salted water to a rolling boil 100°C/212°F. Grate half of the fresh black truffle using a microplane, reserving the other half for slicing at the end.
Once the artichokes are tender, remove the lid and lower the skillet heat to minimum. Stir in the heavy cream and the finely grated black truffle. Let the sauce warm through very gently, allowing the truffle aroma to infuse the cream.
Drop the fresh tagliatelle into the boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve a mug of the starchy pasta cooking water, then use tongs to transfer the pasta directly from the pot into the simmering truffle and artichoke sauce.
Remove the skillet from the heat. Add the cold cubed butter and the finely grated vegetarian hard cheese. Toss the pasta vigorously in the pan, adding splashes of the reserved pasta water as needed, until a thick, glossy, emulsified sauce coats every strand. Season with sea salt and cracked black pepper.
Twirl the pasta into warm, shallow serving bowls, distributing the artichoke pieces evenly. Immediately shave the remaining fresh black truffle over the top of each portion using the truffle slicer. Serve immediately.
Chef's Notes
- When preparing globe artichokes, be aggressive with trimming. The dark green outer leaves are fibrous and unchewable. You only want the pale, tender heart.
- Do not discard the truffle trimmings or the outer skin if you need to clean it. Finely mince them and whip into softened butter to keep in your fridge for future use.
- The secret to restaurant-quality pasta is the final emulsion. Tossing the pasta in the sauce off the heat with starchy water and fat creates a mechanical emulsion that simply cannot be achieved by pouring sauce over plain noodles.
- Warm your serving plates before plating. Emulsified butter and cheese sauces can congeal quickly when they hit cold ceramic.
Storage
Refrigerator: 3 days — Store sauce and pasta separately if possible. Artichokes will keep well.
Reheating: Reheat gently in a skillet over low heat with a splash of water or cream to re-emulsify the sauce.
Troubleshooting
Artichokes turned brown or black before cooking
Cause: Enzymatic browning caused by oxygen exposure
Fix: Cosmetic damage cannot be fixed, but the flavor will remain largely unaffected. Proceed with cooking.
Prevention: Submerge the trimmed artichokes in highly acidic lemon water the exact second they are cut.
Sauce looks oily, split, or clumpy
Cause: The pan was too hot when the cheese was added, causing the dairy proteins to curdle and the fat to separate.
Fix: Add two tablespoons of hot pasta water and whisk or toss furiously off the heat until the emulsion comes back together.
Prevention: Always remove the pan from the direct heat source before adding cheese and butter, and use starchy pasta water to aid the emulsion.
Truffle flavor is barely noticeable
Cause: The truffle was cooked at too high a temperature, destroying its volatile aromatic compounds.
Fix: Cannot be fixed once volatile compounds are lost, add more raw truffle if available.
Prevention: Only warm grated truffle gently in the cream, and rely on raw shavings at the very end to deliver the punch of aroma.
Cultural Context
This dish is a modern Italian celebration of winter produce. It marries the earthy, sweet, and slightly bitter profile of the globe artichoke, a vegetable deeply revered in Roman culinary history, with the intoxicating luxury of black truffles historically hunted in the damp, cold forests of Umbria and Piedmont.
