A delicious recipe first cooked for us by (and shamelessly stolen from) our good friend and top chef Dave Watts. Ingredients (serves 4): 250g pancetta, cubed (or bacon lardons) 1 bunch tropea onions (use spring onions if you can’t get hold of tropea onions), chopped 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped 8 globe artichokes, peeled and quartered* 160g goats cheese 1kg pack gnocchi lemon zest & juice of half a lemon A small bunch of parsley, chopped Method: Gently fry the pancetta (or bacon lardons) in a little olive oil until coloured and almost crispy. Add the tropea/spring onions and garlic and sweat gently for a few minutes until soft. Add the prepared artichokes and a couple of tablespoons of the acidulated water* to the pan and cover with a lid to steam (increase the heat slightly). Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to the boil for the gnocchi. When the artichokes are almost cooked (there is a little resistence when prodded with a fork) put the gnocchi in the boiling water. When the gnocchi floats to the surface (this only takes a minute or two), remove from the water and add to the pan containing the pancetta, onions and artichokes. Add the lemon juice and zest, parsley and goats cheese. Stir to combine the ingredients and serve. Notes: *To prepare globe artichokes, first remove the tough outer leaves until you begin to expose the inner, yellow ones. Cut the top off, then, using a paring knife or easy-peel potato peeler, pare down the leaves that cover the heart of the artichoke. Trim the stem, then cut into quarters and immediately submerge in acidulated water - a bowl of water containing a little lemon juice (to stop them turning brown).

Artichoke and goats cheese gnocchi