I placed the plants on the terrace, bringing them back to the sunlight after a winter protected by a light cloth. They have started to sprout again and soon they will fill with small white flowers: I have exposed them and already well watered them with liquid fertilizer, replacing the succulents that for some months have endured the cold, but not much, winter. Now the succulent plants have completely bloomed with large yellow petals and have found another home near the maple, which is laden with buds and which year after year colors our garden with a red color so autumnly that it almost confuses the season. Now only the umbrella, the chairs and the table in the garden are missing, and spring will be welcomed properly: I want to organize outdoor dinners, turn on the barbecue and wait for dinner to be ready while drinking something fresh with our friends. I want to start having dinner when there is still light with the umbrella open and continue when the night falls by hanging large lamps on the same umbrella.
Meanwhile, today I will cook a savory cake with artichokes and ricotta and I will perfume it with fresh aromatic herbs. They are new, seasonal flavors ... let's move slowly from winter vegetables, like cauliflower or broccoli, to spring ones, which over the weeks become more sweet and fresh. I used the ready puff pastry because at this time when everyone started baking, I thought that maybe there is still someone around who has no intention of putting their hands in dough and to get involved with yeast and flour and then someone, like me, he still works and perhaps more than before, and does not always want to cook. This Easter Monday will jump on, but nothing prevents us from having a nice picnic at the kitchen or garden table, with some good food, chocolate and a good book.
First of all carefully clean the artichokes, removing all the hard external leaves, removing the internal beard and cutting the stems at the base. Slightly spread the leaves of the artichokes: as you prepare them, put them in a bowl full of water with the lemon juice, to prevent them from turning black (the squeezed lemon pass it on your fingers !!). Place a large pot full of water on the fire and when it boils dip the artichokes, cook them for 10/15 minutes then drain them and let them cool a little, so you can handle them without burning yourself. When they are warmed up, cut them into wedges and set aside.
Cut the bacon into little cubes and the spring onion into thin slices. In a cake pan, roll out the puff pastry, prick a little with a fork and distribute the artichokes, bacon and spring onion. Also arrange the ricotta by spoonfuls here and there.
Prepare the filling by mixing milk, beaten egg, parmesan, salt, pepper and a few leaves of fresh marjoram in a bowl. Pour this into the pastry too.
Bake at 180 degrees ventilated, if possible, for about 30 minutes: check that the bottom is also cooked well and not moist, slightly lifting the edge from the pan. If you see that it is still wet, give it heat from below for a few minutes. Serve warm in slices!
