Serves 2 as a snack

Artichokes have to be the perfect finger food. You can just scoop them up with your fingers and dip them in a sauce or give them a generous covering of this garlicky breadcrumb mixture.

Cleaning artichokes always sounds much more complicated than it is - once you have done it once you'll wish you had learned earlier and lament all those years that you went without fresh artichokes on your dinner table. Start now!

Ingredients

8 small violet artichokes
2 stale slices of crusty bread
1 clove of garlic
2 small anchovy fillets
a few tsp of good quality olive oil
a handful of pine nuts, lightly toasted
Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Clean the artichokes by pulling away the tough outer leaves one by one until you reach a layer of inner leaves that feel soft and tender. On a small artichoke you will probably only need to go around the artichoke once.

Place the artichoke on a chopping board and cut off the top third of the artichoke and discard. With a pointy teaspoon or melon baller, scrape away the base of the inside of the artichoke. This looks very much like the base of a dandelion and is slightly fuzzy.

Trim away a small section from the base of the stem where the artichoke was cut and with a small paring knife, peel away the skin from the stems, turning the artichoke until you have peeled the entire stem in top to bottom strokes. Halve of quarter the artichokes and place them in a bowl of water with the juice of a half a lemon to keep them from discolouring.

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to boil and simmer the artichokes for 15-20 minutes in the water or until they are tender.

Meanwhile break the bread into pieces and toast it in a dry frying pan over low-medium heat. Crumble the bread between your fingers as it toasts until you have a pan full of very small clumps of bread which are lightly golden and well toasted.

Place the garlic and anchovies in a mortar and pestle and pound to a smooth paste. Add the breadcrumbs and continue to pound until the breadcrumbs have distintegrated into the paste. Stir in just enough olive oil to moisten the mixture slightly. You want a mixture that isn't too dry but isn't mushy. Stir in the toasted pine nuts and season well with pepper.

When the artichokes are tender, drain them well and arrange them on a serving plate. Scatter them generously with the breadcrumb mixture and serve