Italian speck and artichoke pasta

November is not only the transition month towards Christmas, but it brings a beautiful gift: artichokes!

So: what about velvety pasta? Sure!

Ideal for everyday lunch but, if you choose a particular pasta shape, it can become very chic! I chose “calamarata” a stunning idea for Sunday lunch… do you like the idea?

SERVES 4 people

READY IN 30′

INGREDIENTS:

2 artichokes

Water and lemon juice to taste

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped onion

Salt to taste

3 tablespoons cubed speck

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

water and coarse salt to taste

12 oz pasta

2 tablespoons Parmigiano

STEP 1: CLEAN THE ARTICHOKES

Rub your hands with lemon juice to avoid staining them cutting artichokes.

Take an artichoke and cut the tip with a knife. Start removing by hand the outer leaves (the hard ones) until you reach the heart.

Cut the stem of the artichoke and peel it with a potato peeler until you reach the inside part. Cut the artichoke into pieces of approx 0.5 x 0.5 and put them into the water bowl prepared before.

Continue cutting in half the hearts of artichokes and remove the beard kept inside.

Important: while working with the knife, keep cutten artichokes in water to prevent them from blackening.

Take all the cutten parts of artichokes and cut into strips.

STEP 2: COOK ARTICHOKES

Place oil and onion in a pan and let it brown. Add sliced artichokes and cook with the lid on for about 8-10 minutes.

Add salt and cook 15 more minutes.

STEP 3: BROWN SPECK

Slice speck into small cubes,

brown speck with oil for 1 minute.

add it to the artichokes pan.

STEP 4: COOK PASTA

While the sauce is cooking, cook pasta.

In boiling salted water (the correct ratio provides 1 liter of water per pound of pasta and 12 g of salt per liter of water), cook pasta. Just before drainig them, pick up half a cup of cooking water and keep it aside.