A damp January morning (2006) and a walk round the vegetable patch reveals only two herbs in reasonable condition: rosemary, which loses some of its potency in winter, and parsley, most of which has collapsed in a dead faint to the ground. I value both enormously, feeling even now that they have an edge on the imported basil and spindly thyme in the markets. Both respond well to earthy winter cooking. Chilled to the bone (I find it’s the damp that gets to me more than the temperature), I come in and use the parsley where it really matters: in a pan of braised artichokes and pork sausage, whose brown depths I freshen up with Italian lemons and, at its side, some crisp and chewy greens.
Ingredients
enough for 4
Step 1
Brown the sausages all over in a little oil in a Dutch oven or other heavy pot. Set aside. Peel the onions and cut them into thick sections, then add to the pot in which you browned the sausages, pouring in a little more oil if you need to. Let the onions soften over medium heat until they are tender enough to crush with a wooden spoon. Don’t hurry this; it should take fifteen to twenty minutes. Peel and finely slice the garlic and add it to the onions. Halve the mushrooms and add them too.
Step 2
Peel or simply scrub the artichokes, then cut them in half. Add them to the pot, pushing the onions aside, and let them color slightly. Now return the sausages back to the pot. Cut the lemon into fat chunks and tuck them in along with the fennel seeds and a good seasoning of salt and black pepper.
Step 3
Pour over enough stock or water to cover and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat and simmer for about thirty minutes, until the vegetables are truly tender. If there is too much liquid, increase the heat and let it reduce a little. Stir in the parsley, check the seasoning, and eat with the greens.
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