Tagliatelle with ricotta cheese and artichokes is a dish we prepare very often in spring when we can find artichokes easily. It's very tasty for our guests!
You will need: dry egg tagliatelle, ricotta cheese, fresh artichokes, leek, aromatic herbs (chives and parsley) and good-quality olive oil.
Here's the recipe!

Prepare the artichokes. Prepare the artichokes. Snap off the stalk close to the base, pulling out any fibres which would extend into the bottom. Cut off the pointed top and, using kitchen scissors, trim the leaves to remove spines and any brown edges. Cut every artichokes in quarters and plunge them in lemon water. The artichokes are ready to be cooked. If you want more details about cleaning the artichokes read them on the memebers-only area. Finally cut them into very thin slices but just before putting them in the pan.

Prepare the sauce. Put the artichokes, leek, chives and parsley in a saucepan. Add half a glass of water, season to taste with salt and cook for 20 - 25 minutes on medium heat until the cooking juice is reduced. Switch off the gas, add the olive oil and stir.

Cook the tagliatelle. Boil the tagliatelle in plenty of salted water. Follow our instructions about the rules to cook well Italian pasta or the directions on the package.

The last step. While the tagliatelle are boiling, take a couple of spoons boiling water and melt the ricotta cheese in a large bowl. Drain the tagliatelle very well, transfer them into the bowl and combine with the artichoke sauce too.
Stir gently and serve at once.

Note

• - You can prepare the artichoke sauce the day before.
• - As you can read we prepare the sauce without sauteing the leek in the olive oil. We put the ingredients in the pan except the oil and cook until the cooking juice is well reduced. Then we switch off the gas, add the olive oil and stir. It's a new method to taste the olive oil and make good use of its nutritive properties.
  If you want you can prepare the sauce in the traditional way sauteing the leek in the olive oil and then adding the other ingredients.
• - Use dried aromatic herbs if you have no time (an abundant tablespoon of everyone)
• - If you have some pasta left you can warm it up the day after with success: it tastes fantastic!
• - This is a typical dish in spring when artichokes can be found easily all over the world. Its a successful dish. Think of it planning a ceremony menu in this season. In this last case the doses are enough for more people (at least 10 people).

Healthy eating

• - Daily menu. This is a dish rich in ingredients and so we use a smaller amount of tagliatelle; in this way we lower calories and carbohydrates. Complete your meal with seasonal raw or boiled vegetable seasoned with a teaspoon olive oil and finally fresh fruit.
  We remember pasta should be eaten preferably at lunch and the calories eaten at lunch should be 500 - 700 (30 - 35% of energy needs for an adult if his daily needs are about 2000 calories and he correctly divides his calories into 5 micro-meals).
  Here are the doses per head: 50 g (1 3/4oz) tagliatelle, an artichoke (use the amount you want with no limit), and 40 g (1 1/2oz) ricotta cheese, aromatic herbs and one tablespoon olive oil. It's a satisfying dish!
• - Special occasion menu. As we've just written you can also choose this recipe for an important dinner menu or a celebration menu. Don't worry about fat, calories, sugars ... it happens rarely, doesn't it?
• - Tagliatelle are tossed with a sauce without tomatoes and so this dish is ideal for people who can't eat tomatoes.
• - We remember you the artichokes are healthy food. They are rich in water, fiber and very low in fat, calories and carbo. The artichokes have also a lot of cynarin. It is located especially in the pulp of the leaves but also in dried leaves and stems. Cynarin increases bile production, makes easy the digestion, helps the liver function, lowers HDL/LDL ratio. This reduces cholesterol levels, which diminishes the risk for arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease.
• - If you want to drink a glass of wine remember you have to add 80-85 kCal per 100 ml.
• - If you want to know more about Italian pasta and its nutrition value read this page.
• - We remember you our original home recipes can be made without salt; there is a combination of flavours that substitutes salt. Other no salt recipes ...

What's the right wine for " Tagiatelle with artichokes and ricotta cheese " ?

Our suggestion is an amber beer. In fact wine isn't suggested for the presence of artichokes.