When I inevitably come home with bunches of this versatile vegetable from the market, I am tempted to use them in everything, from pasta and risotto to salad and fritattas. There are so many delicious ways to enjoy artichokes, but what makes this such a wonderful dish is the combination of two things – the fried artichokes, which become at once nutty and crisp on the outside but also meltingly soft. And the egg, which is pushed around the hot pan and cooked quickly so that it remains soft and wobbly, a little like just-cooked scrambled eggs.
The dish is inspired by a recipe from the heart of Jewish Pitigliano at the turn of the century, one that Edda Servi Machlin calls ‘Tortino della Nonna Debora’, or her Grandma Debora’s omelette in The Classic Cuisine of the Italian Jews. It’s also very similar to a dish at one of my favourite trattorias in Florence, where they use little frying pans for individual omelettes – just the right size for an antipasto.