Jerusalem Artichoke soup

I planted a couple of Jerusalem Artichoke tubers about three years ago. They are a nice plant to have in the garden as they take care of themselves, grow quite tall and shade other plants in our hot summer and have a nice, bright yellow flower, similar to a sunflower. The harvest the first year was a bit meagre and barely worth preparing. Last year there was so little water I pulled them all out. This year they grew nicely but I must admit I have been looking at them and thinking "are they really worth the effort?"  Jerusalem artichoke soup was on the menu when we visited "The Lakehouse" at Daylesford, so I have been thinking if its good enough for a two hat restaurant maybe I should bother.
I dug a few up a week or two ago and roasted them whole. They were very nice and nutty.
Yesterday was real soup weather, cold and bleak, I thought I would have a go at the Jerusalem Artichoke Soup.
I was pleasantly surprised when I went to dig them up to find some nice sized tubers. They really look a lot like ginger I think.




I just washed them and sliced them up, then sauteed them in some butter with three lovely leeks that I pulled out of the garden. I added a stick of celery because I had some. Once this all looked nice and soft i seasoned it and added two cups of turkey stock that I had just made. Chicken, vegetable or water would work just as well. When it was all soft I whizzed it with a stick blender, adding a little bit of milk. The result was quite a thick soup.
To serve I whizzed up a batch of parsley pesto. The continental parlsy grows like a weed here and this year it tastes superb, fresh and sweet. Two big handfuls of parsley, a slurp of olive oil, salt, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese and a dash of lemon, resulted in a beautiful pesto which finished the soup off nicely.

As did the fresh sourdough loaf that I baked today using my lovely new flour and baked in the old wood stove.
Lovely winter food.   

Comments

Kimmie said…
Sounds delish~!
They do look a lot like ginger hey!
June 9, 2011 at 10:56 AM
Anonymous said…
Reading your blog always makes me
hungry.... except the ones about the
mice! kt x
June 9, 2011 at 7:19 PM
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