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A friend gave me some Giand Cardoon seeds, and I tried to grow some of them. Giand cardoon should be sowed in spring and harvested in autumn and winter.

Unfortunately only two plants survive through my summer holidays, but at least we managed to taste them.

The core is the tender part of the giant cardoon. I removed the external leaves and the hard portions, cut into cubes, then cooked in boiling salted water until tender.
Like artichokes, you should put cardoon pieces in a bowl with water and lemon juice to prevent them from browning.

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Cooked cardoons can be fried, or added to soups and sauces.

I fried them in butter, then added some pieces of fontina valdostana cheese.

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This cream is tasty and slightly bitter, I can be used on croutons or bruschetta.

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This goes to Marillyn from Just Making Noise who's hosting this week's edition of Weekend Herb Blogging.
This event is handled by Cook (almost) anything at least once.

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