Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Carciofi alla Romana
Whole Roman artichokes stuffed with garlic and wild mint, then braised upright in olive oil and water until meltingly tender.
Roman · medium · serves 4
prep 30 min · cook 30 min
~44 cal · 1g protein · 4g carbs · 3g fat · 1g fiber · 0g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Carciofi alla romana are the great artichokes of the Roman spring, and the Roman kitchen is the everyday cooking of the Vatican and its city. Whole globe artichokes are trimmed down to their tender hearts, stuffed between the leaves with a fragrant paste of garlic, parsley and wild mint (mentuccia), then stood upside down in a pan.
Half-submerged in olive oil and water and gently under a lid, they turn silky and deep green, perfumed all the way through with the herbs. Served warm with their glossy cooking juices and a little bread, they are a simple, seasonal masterpiece of the Roman table.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
4 globe (Roman) artichokes
1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh mint (mentuccia), chopped
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup water
to taste salt and pepper
Instructions
1
Squeeze the lemon into a bowl of water. Trim each artichoke, snapping off the tough outer leaves, cutting the tips and peeling the stem, then drop into the lemon water so they do not blacken.
2
Mix the garlic, mint and parsley with salt and pepper. Drain the artichokes, spread the leaves gently, and push the herb mix into the centre and between the leaves.
3
Stand the artichokes upside down and packed close together in a deep pan or pot.
✎ Chef’s note
Pack them snugly so they hold their shape and stay submerged as they braise.
4
Pour in the olive oil and water so the artichokes are covered up to the stems, cover with a lid, and cook over low heat about 30 minutes until tender.
5
Serve warm, spooning over some of the cooking juices, with bread to mop up the oil.
Roman / Vatican table tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Vatican City. The territory is about a fifth of a square mile with no farmland at all, so everything is brought in from Italy. What the enclave contributes is a calendar rather than a cuisine: the fasting and feast days of the church year, which shaped Roman cooking for centuries, the Friday fish habit included.
🗺️
Vatican City. Roman dishes are what appear on the table, and they are worth naming precisely. Saltimbocca alla romana is veal with prosciutto and sage, and it is genuinely Roman; cacio e pepe is pecorino romano and black pepper emulsified with pasta water and nothing else. Carbonara, often reached for in this context, is a post-war dish with no papal or ancient lineage at all.
🌍
Europe. A surprising amount of European cooking is under five hundred years old. Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, beans and chocolate all crossed from the Americas after 1492, and none of them was trusted quickly: the potato took most of the eighteenth century to be accepted as food rather than animal fodder across much of the north.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Vatican City
Fettuccine alla PapalinaA refined Roman pasta of fettuccine with prosciutto, egg, and Parmesan, created for a pope.
Maritozzo con PannaA soft, sweet Roman bun split and filled with a thick cloud of whipped cream.
SupplìFried risotto rice croquettes with a molten mozzarella centre, the Roman street snack found around the Vatican.
Browse all Vatican City recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Vatican City meal
Crostata di Ricotta e ViscioleDessert
SupplìLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Carciofi alla Romana?
Whole Roman artichokes stuffed with garlic and wild mint, then braised upright in olive oil and water until meltingly tender.
Where does Carciofi alla Romana come from?
Carciofi alla Romana is a Roman dish from Vatican City, Vatican City.
Can Carciofi alla Romana be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Carciofi alla Romana recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Carciofi alla Romana safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Carciofi alla Romana take to make?
About 60 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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