Artičoci (island Ugljan)

Ingredients:

• 10 artichokes
• ½ cup of olive oil
• 300 g of young beans
• 400 g of young peas (biji)
• 3 large new potatoes (in some places they put them in, in others they don’t)
• 3 cloves of garlic (onion),
• finely chopped parsley
• crumbs, salt, pepper

Preparation:

Cut off the top and all the spikes from the artichokes, and remove the hard outer leaves. Dissolve the leaves a little and soak them in plenty of cold water to remove the impurities and bitterness. Then they are turned upside down to drain the water. Mix crumbs, finely chopped garlic and parsley in a bowl with oil (in recent times, parmesan is added to this mixture, but in traditional island recipes it was not added). The artichoke leaves should be thoroughly dissolved and abundantly filled with this mixture.

Arrange the artichokes in a shallow, wide dish, add beans and peas around them (sometimes also diced potatoes), pour water up to the level of the tops of the artichokes (the water must not be over the artichokes), and add salt and pepper. It is cooked on low heat until the vegetables are soft.

Remark:

Even today, artichokes can be found in almost every garden, even in the wider area of the city of Zadar, especially in the area of Borik and Puntamika, which were inhabited by the islanders, then in coastal settlements and on all the islands of Zadar County. They are not so common in other parts of Dalmatia. They are usually planted along the edge of the garden, along the wall where they are protected. Traditionally, they were never bought, but everyone had their own in the spring. They were traditionally prepared in a clay lopiž .