Sunchokes, or Jerusalem artichokes, are a seasonal favorite. This this recipe from chef Lydia Reichert highlights the vegetable’s versatility in a creamy soup that’s perfect for winter nights. To add a little extra heartiness, add a garnish of crispy pancetta or bacon, or browned sunchoke rounds to keep it vegetarian-friendly.
Roasted Sunchoke Soup
Details
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 3 lbs sunchokes
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 tablespoon thyme leaves, fresh
- 1 Yukon gold potato, peeled and diced
- 8 tablespoon butter
- 1 1/2 quart chicken stock (or mushroom stock if you want to make it a vegetarian soup)
- 1 quart water
- fresh nutmeg for grating
Directions
- Wash sunchokes thoroughly (don’t peel), and cut into 1/4" thick slices.
- Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a wide sauce pot. Add sunchokes in one even layer; depending on the size of your pot you may have to roast the sunchokes in a couple of rounds to make sure that you get a nice golden brown color one each side of the sliced sunchokes. Once all of the rounds have been browned, remove them from the pan and reserve on a plate.
- Once all of the sunchokes are cooked you should have a nice bit of fond (brown bits) on the bottom of the pan.
- Add the onion, garlic and thyme with 2 tablespoons of water and stir with a wooden spoon to get all the caramelized bits off the bottom of the pan. Slowly cook the onion until tender.
- Add the potato and the roasted sunchokes. Cover with stock and water simmer until potatoes are tender.
- Blend in a blender (or use an immersion blender) and puree until smooth.
- Brown the remaining butter and add to soup. Check seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper if necessary. Finish with a couple of grates of fresh nutmeg.
