Among the many artichoke recipes I have tried over the years, the raw artichoke salad is undoubtedly the one that surprised me the most. I still remember the first time I tasted it: it was served as an appetizer in a restaurant, and I admit I was quite skeptical. I feared raw artichokes would be tough and bitter… but I was wrong! If cleaned and prepared carefully, raw artichokes offer a crunchy texture and a delicate, non-bitter taste that pairs perfectly with ingredients like lemon, mint, and flakes of Grana or Parmesan cheese. To further enrich the raw artichoke salad, I love adding a touch of dried fruit: walnuts, pine nuts, almond slivers, or toasted pumpkin seeds provide crunchiness and a unique flavor to the dish. Easy to prepare and incredibly appetizing, raw artichoke salad is ideal both as an appetizer and as a side dish. Elegant and versatile, it’s also perfect for the most refined occasions.
You might also be interested in:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4 People
- Cooking methods: No cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Winter, Spring
Ingredients for the raw artichoke salad
- 4 artichokes (purple, or 3 Romanesco)
- 0.75 oz walnut kernels
- 0.75 oz Grana Padano DOP (or Parmesan)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
- 2 lemons (juice only)
Tools
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Glass
- 1 Fork
- 1 Colander
- 1 cheese slicer
How to Prepare Raw Artichoke Salad
To prepare raw artichokes in salad, it’s essential to let them marinate for about an hour in water and lemon to prevent them from darkening and losing their bitter taste. Therefore, fill a large bowl with cold water and squeeze in the juice of 1 and a half lemons (1). Keep aside half a lemon, whose juice you will use to season the artichokes.
Carefully clean the artichokes, following the video tutorial you can find here. Remove the stems but do not throw them away: you can use them, along with one or two artichokes, to make a risotto or a velvety soup. Cut the artichokes in half and remove any beard (2), then with a sharp knife, cut them into thin slices (3).
As you cut them, immediately place them in the acidulated water with lemon juice (4). Let them soak for about an hour. In the meantime, prepare the emulsion to dress the artichoke salad: finely chop the pennyroyal or mint (5). Combine in a glass the oil, salt, pepper, chopped mint, and squeeze in the juice of the remaining half lemon (6).
Vigorously beat everything with a fork to form an emulsion (7). Drain the artichokes with a colander, then transfer them to a salad bowl and dress them with the oil and lemon emulsion (8). Mix everything well, then add the Grana flakes (if you don’t have the specific tool for making flakes, you can use a vegetable peeler) and the coarsely chopped walnuts (9).
Briefly mix everything and serve the raw artichoke salad immediately as an appetizer or as a side dish.
Storage
If there are leftovers, you can store the raw artichoke salad in the refrigerator, sealed in a glass container, for one day.
Tips and Variations
Instead of lemon juice, you can dress the artichokes with an oil and balsamic vinegar emulsion, or use a balsamic vinegar glaze as the final garnish for the salad.
