How to Clean and Cook Thistles

Almost by chance, I was pleased to discover the flavor of thistle: the fleshy consistency and the slightly bitter taste won me over. So I decided to bring a beautiful thistle plant to my kitchen.
In popular parlance, edible thistle is also called wild artichoke, while in botany it is known as Cynara cardunculus. The active ingredients, which are concentrated in the flowering tops and fruits (achenes), are extracted for their digestive, purifying, antioxidant and potentially cholesterol-lowering properties.
The fruits have been used since ancient times to extract a substance capable of coagulating milk (vegetable rennet).
In the culinary field, thistle is mostly appreciated for its fleshy and tasty leaves (ribs).

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Identity Card of the Recipe

• 155 KCal Calories per serving

• Ingrediants

  • 6 long ribs (500 g, clean weight) of thistles
  • 100 g of untreated lemon
  • q.s. of water
  • q.s. of salt

  Materials Needed

  • Bowl
  • Vegetable peeler or knife
  • Chopping board
  • Casserole
  • Latex gloves (optional)
  • Casserole

  Preparation

  1. Prepare a bowl with water and lemon juice.

  What is lemon used for?
  Thistles, just like artichokes, tend to blacken the hands and oxidize quickly: to slow down the natural oxidative process, we recommend the use of lemon (natural antioxidant).
  To protect your hands from blackening, we also recommend the use of latex gloves.

  2. Separate the ribs of the head, removing any leaves. Cut the ribs into pieces about 10 cm long and, if they are particularly large or wide, also cut them lengthwise.
  3. Deprive each piece of coast of hard and woody filaments using a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler (recommended). As the ribs are cleaned, dip the thistles in the acidulated water.
  4. Rinse the thistles in running water.
  5. Bring a saucepan full of water to boil. When the water boils, salt lightly and add the thistles: cook for about an hour or until soft.
  6. Drain the thistles from the water and cover them with cling film. The thistles are ready to be flavored to taste: they can be sautéed in a pan with oil, garlic and parsley, fried in oil or baked in the oven with béchamel. Thistles are great for making savory pies and soups.

  Alice's comment - PersonalCooker

  Now we have known all the tricks of the trade to clean and cook thistles to perfection! At this point, we can flavor them with garlic and parsley, pass them in the batter and fry them or brown them in the oven with a little béchamel!

  Nutritional values ​​and Health Comment on the recipe

  Thistles are low calorie plant foods suitable for any type of diet. They contain a good dose of fiber, vitamins, minerals, vitamins and molecules useful for promoting liver detoxification.
  The average portion of Cardi could be free, but within the limits of reasonableness it is likely between 100 and 300g (10-30kcal).