Receta Carciofi alla romana (Roman-style Artichokes)

Dear readers: I am back from my travels, at my blogging post just in time for the first day of Spring. Artichokes are back in season! And is there any vegetable more typical of Roman cooking, perhaps of all Italian cuisine, than the artichoke? What better way to get back to work, then, than this dish, one of the most typically Roman ways to prepare artichokes called, appropriately enough, alla romana, or 'in the Roman style': stuffed with garlic and herbs, and simmered in olive oil and water. Nothing could be simpler, or more flavorful.