Welcome to Miss Foodista with Spaghetti con Carciofi (Artichokes) e Pecorino

miss: def; a title prefixed to a mock surname used to represent a particular attribute of the person, especially one excessively prominent
foodie: def; noun, informal term for someone who has an ardent or refined interest in food
-ista: def; suffix, added to words to form nouns denoting one who follows a principle

Together we have Miss Foodista. Welcome to my blog! Like my title suggest, I am very passionate about food and wanted to share this love with friends, family, and fellow foodies! My blog will focus on cooking, baking, and eating (restaurant reviews and sharing delicious things my friends have made). I am very new to cooking, a little bit better at baking, and excellent at eating!

I am living on my own for the first time in my life, so am learning a lot generally about how to cook, cooking for one, and cooking quickly! I generally start out with recipes but don't follow them to a "t," either because I don't like ingredients or think something will work better, but more often because I don't plan ahead and don't have the ingredients required on hand! Also, this will be a learning experience...both for my cooking and my writing. But I won't post anything that isn't delicious (unless it's a funny cooking story--but I'll make sure to let you know that it isn't delicious). So that's enough background let's get to my first dish!

Spaghetti con Carcofi e Pecorino (and the non-pretentious title--Spaghetti with artichokes and pecorino cheese)

So I LOVE Italian food--much to do with the semester I spent abroad their living with a professional Italian chef! But I am always looking for some twists on the American traditional italian cooking. I LOVE pecorino , which is a hard italian cheese made from sheep's milk. I bought pecornio on a whim at Trader Joe's, so I was in search of a good recipe to utilize this great ingredient.

I was inspired by Mario Batali's recipe, but I modified it so much that I won't even write it out. I'll list my final recipe with instructions at the end of this post.

First step, trim the artichokes down to the heart, steam, and most delicate leaves. Remove the middle and place in water. Or do as I did, and use frozen artichoke hearts (from Trader Joe's), which is much easier than preparing artichokes--and easy to have on hand in the freezer! Thaw the frozen artichokes hearts before use.

Next, grab and peel 12 cloves of garlic, yes 12! But leave them whole (yay, no mincing or having to clean the garlic press). I'm am excited about this becuase I'm probably going to like any recipe that starts off with 12 cloves of garlic!

that's a lot of garlic! (note: picture shows unpeeled)

Heat oil in a medium-sized saute pan. Cook garlic until golden brown, stirring frequently (only takes a few minutes). Then add a mixture of 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar and 1/4 cup water mixture and the (thawed) artichokes. Cook for about 12 minutes until the artichokes are tender (fork slides through them).

artichokes cooking in the balsamic vinegar

In the meantime, boil water and cook spaghetti al dente, which just means on the firmer side.

Also while the artichokes and spaghetti is cooking, start chopping the Italian parsley. Italian parsley is different from the more common curly parsley because it is used as a primary ingredient/herb in dishes, while curly parsley is most often used as a garnish. Italian parsley is easy to chop and has more flavor and is a little sweeter than it's curly counterpart. You can find Italian parsley at regular grocery stores (i.e. Safeway).

Italian Parsley Leaves

The second to last step (I told you I like to cook quickly) is to drain the cooked spaghetti and toss with the pan with the balsamic and artichokes. Then add the parsley and toss well. And serve into bowls. Or in my case...serve into one dinner bowl and two Tupperware containers for lunch and/or dinner the next day.

Spaghetti tossed with artichokes (before it was tossed with the parsley)

The last step concerns my favorite ingredient--pecorino! Take the pecorino and, if you have the option, use a really wide/extra course cheese grater to grate the cheese. This way you'll get some really big chucks and flakes of pecorino on your pasta.

The pecorino has this amazing aged taste but yet is buttery and nutty at the same time, and also retains a soft texture (for a hard cheese). It is delectable!

The FINAL step, is to add the pecorino on top of the spaghetti that has been tossed with the sauce and parsley. And ta dah....

Assessment: An easy pasta dish that is much different from the usual stuff you either make at home or order at Italian restaurants! What I enjoyed about this dish was the tangyness of the balsamic infused artichokes and spaghetti mixed with the fresh sweet parsley and soft pecorino cheese. The italian parsley was KEY in this dish and I wouldn't recommended making it without fresh parsley, the balsamic just would have been way to overpowering without the parsley. Oh, and don't forget to serve with a nice glass of red wine (I had a cab-merlot). But I thought it was pretty delicious! I make pasta a lot for dinner (around once a week), so it's nice to change it up every once in a while!

Here is the recipe I created & used:
6 Jumbo Artichokes or the equivalent Canned or Frozen Artichoke Hearts
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
12 cloves garlic, peeled & left whole
1/2 cup balsamic vinaigrette
1/4 cup water
6-7 oz of Spaghetti
1/2 cup Italian Parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup pecornio cheese (I used pecorino romano, but pecorino pepato can also be used)

1. Thaw frozen artichokes or trim the artichokes down to the heart, stem and most delicate leaves. Quarter and remove the choke and place in water.
2. In a 12 to 14-inch saute pan, heat the oil and garlic over medium heat and cook until the garlic is light golden brown (around 3 minutes)
3. Add the artichokes and balsamic vinegar/water mixture and cook until the artichokes are tender, about 12 minutes.
4. Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions, until tender yet al dente. Drain and toss in the pan with the artichokes. Add the parsley and toss well. Pour into pasta bowls add shaven pecorino and serve.