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FOOD 12 | SUNDAY • 14 APRIL 2019 maltatoday • 2 artichokes • 2 eggs • 150g broad beans • 1 clove garlic • 100g basil • 50g pecorino • 50g Parmigiano • Salt, to taste • Sugar, to taste • 20g pine nuts • Lemon zest, to taste 1. Clean and prep the artichokes until you're left with just the heart. 2. Steam the artichoke hearts for 20 – 30min. 3. Shuck the first layer of the broad beans then blanche for about 30 seconds. 4. Place the blanched beans in a bowl of ice water. 5. To prepare the pesto, place the basil, cheese and nuts in a blender and pulse. 6. Once blended, taste and add half a clove of garlic. Add salt and sugar to the pesto to taste. 7. Once the artichokes are three-quarter ready, pull from the steam bath and place in an ice bath. 8. Remove the little hairs at the centre of the artichoke heart and season the inside and outside with salt. 9. Separate the egg yolks from the whites and pour into the artichoke. 10. Please steam for another 2 to 5 min- utes. 11. On a low heat, warm the shucked broad beans and mix with the pesto, zest some lemon zest to brighten up the dish. 12. To plate, place the beans on the plate and place the artichoke with a yolk heart in the centre. Artichoke with a runny yolk CHARLES GRECH Bin 2 Shiraz Mataro 2014 Penfolds, Australia Bin 2 Shiraz Mataro is a classic Penfolds wine, steeped in nineteenth-century tradition. Typically it is a generous medium-bodied wine based on shiraz, but shot with the aromatics and muscular strength of mataro. It's best to drink early, but like many of Penfolds reds can last the distance in the cellar. Bouquet: Scents of black olive and dark black cherry laced with mixed spices/herbs, Dark chocolate notes and a skerrick of liquorice. Palate: Mataro's green tea-leaf characters immediately apparent, as is Mataro's inky/ rubbly palate imprint. Grainy/particulate/powdery tannins throughout. Ditto, barely perceptible oak (some vanillin, crushed biscotti f lavours). Evocative Shiraz fruits and savouriness dominate the mid-palate. Refreshingly medium-bodied, enticingly textured. Food Affinities: veal, roast chicken, planked salmon. Exclusively imported by Charles Grech & Co Ltd Valley Road, Birkikara T: 21 444 400 Fine quality Italian wines of tradition Irpina. Donnachiara, winery located in Montefalcione (Avellino), with its vineyards that stretch along the hills typical of the Irpinia, produces white wines and red wines of high quality including Greco di Tufo, Fiano di Avellino, Taurasi DOCG but also sparkling like Santè Falanghina. Soft crushing of the selected grapes and after that cold decanting of the must fermentation at 57-60°F in steel vats for 15 days. Malolatic fermentation is not done. Full expression of it's territory, the heart of Greco di tufo, with a specific attention to all the factors of maturation of it's aroma's. Nose: Offers fruity flavours of pear, apricot, pineapple and citrus Palate: Smooth, elegant and structured, with good freshness and a great persistence that confirms and amplifies the olfactory sensations. Food Affinities: Perfect with all seafood, pasta with light sauces , white meats and herb cheeses Exclusively imported by Charles Grech & Co. Ltd, Valley Road, Birkirkara T: 2144 4400 Donnachiara Greco di Tufo: DONNACHIARA Host of Gourmet Today and CEO of Mediterranean Culinary Academy Kurt Mifsud Ingredients Method Kurt combines two of spring's most cherished foods: Artichokes filled with runny yolk on a bed of broad beans Serves 2 This recipe first appeared on Gourmet Today TV, April 2019