Cardoon salad

---

You probably need to be growing cardoons, or living in Italy to make this, however, if you are...

Ingredients

• 1 cardoon stem
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 4 hard-boiled eggs
• Bunch of freshly picked parsley
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs
• Pinch of sea salt

Method

1. Set a large pan of water boiling
2. Add the lemon juice and a pinch of salt
3. Top and tail the stalk
4. With a mandoline, remove all of the strings from the edge
5. Cut into 5 cm (2") lengths (as if were celery)
6. Drop the pieces into the water before they discolour
7. Lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes
8. Peel and chop the hard-boiled eggs
9. Drain the cardoon and set on a tea towel to cool and dry
10. Arrange the cardoons and eggs in a bowl
11. Heat a small pan and the olive oil and fry the breadcrumbs until golden brown
12. Allow to cool and then sprinkle over the salad

Serving suggestions

Serve at room temperature

Variations

Use garlic oilive oil