Cardoon is a relative of artichokes but the leaf stalks are harvested instead of the flowers. The edges of the leaves have small spines which are scraped off Preparation harvest. This is a common vegetable in Italian cooking. There are plenty of recipes for this unique vegetable on the internet, but they all recommend blanching with lemon juice to remove bitterness. The most common way to prepare cardoon is breaded and fried.
Preparation:
- Peel the back of the stalk like you would celery.
- Cut into 1 inch pieces.
- Blanch in a pot of water with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice for 15 minutes until cooked but still firm.
- Cool in ice water before breading and frying.