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Cardo con almendras
Cardo con almendras: tender cardoon in a creamy almond and garlic sauce for Aragon's Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve in Aragon and neighbouring Navarre, a dish of cardoon is as certain as turrón: the long, pale stalks are boiled until tender and served in a velvety sauce of ground almonds, garlic and the cooking water, often as the first course before fish or lamb. The flavour is like artichoke, gentle and slightly bitter, softened by the nutty sauce. It contains no animal products. A common mistake is leaving cut cardoon in the air; it blackens within minutes, so drop each piece into lemon water as you go. Ready-cleaned jars of cardoon are sold in Spain and work well if you skip the first two steps. Chef's tip: whisk a spoonful of flour into the cooking water; it keeps the stalks white and gives you a ready-thickened broth for the sauce.
- Total time
- 95 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the cardoon
For the almond sauce
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Fresh ingredients (3)
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Fill a large bowl with cold water and half of ½ lemon. Trim the base and leaves from 2 ⅝ lb cardoon, separate the stalks and peel off the stringy outer fibres with a knife. Cut into 5 cm pieces and drop each into the lemon water at once.
Step 2: Bring a large pan of water to the boil with 2 tsp salt and the rest of ½ lemon. Whisk 1 tbsp plain flour with a little cold water and stir it in. Add the drained cardoon and simmer for 45 to 60 minutes, until a knife slides through the thickest piece without resistance.
50 minStep 3: Drain, saving the cooking water as 1 ¾ cups cardoon cooking water. Keep the cardoon warm.
Step 4: Heat 3 ½ tbsp olive oil in a wide pan over a medium-low heat. Fry 3 clove garlic for 1 minute until pale gold, then stir in 2 ⅛ oz blanched almonds and 1 tbsp plain flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring, until the mixture smells toasty.
3 minStep 5: Whisk in the cooking water a ladle at a time, letting it bubble between additions, until you have a smooth sauce like single cream. Simmer for 5 minutes and taste for salt.
6 minStep 6: Add the cardoon and simmer for 5 minutes more so it soaks up the flavour. Serve hot, scattered with parsley if you like.
5 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 12 g
- Fat
- 14 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does cardo con almendras take?
- About 95 minutes in total: 35 minutes to prepare and 60 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- What can I use instead of lemon?
- Lime, or 2 tbsp bottled lemon juice per lemon (no zest from bottled juice).
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
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