Silken Sunchoke Soup Recipes

SUNCHOKE SOUP

Steps:

• Place the sunchokes in a colander and rinse under running water. Using a kitchen brush, lightly brush them to get rid of the soil on them, if there is any. Cut into 1-inch cubes and set aside.
• Heat butter in a large Dutch oven (or any heavy bottom pan) in medium heat. Add in the onion and celery. Cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 5-7 minutes.
• Add in the salt, pepper, stock, water, and sunchokes. Give it a stir. Bring it to a boil. Turn down the heat and let it simmer for 45-50 minutes or until sunchokes are easily pierced when inserted with a knife.
• In a blender, puree the soup in 2 batches until smooth. Return the soup to the pan and reheat over medium heat.
• Taste for seasoning and add in if necessary.
• Ladle into bowls. If prefered, top each bowl with kale chips and sesame seeds.

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE SOUP

Steps:

• I brought a handful of Jerusalem Artichokes home from the market, washed and roasted them (skin and all) in the oven with a simple drizzle of olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. I cooked them all the way through as I would a baked potato. I tried roasting them a second time replacing the olive oil with hazelnut oil for even tastier results. Now, the vegetable risks to take over my produce life as I know it! I cut some into thin rounds, fried them and sprinkled them over an arugula salad. Delicious. I thought I had reached my peak with these preparations until I tasted this soup...The combination of roasting and stewing them yields a complex flavor.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Place 1/2 the Jerusalem artichokes on a baking sheet. Drizzle them with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the tray in the center of the oven and cook until they are completely yielding when pierced with the tip of a knife, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, slice the rest of the Jerusalem artichokes in 1/2-inch thick slices. Heat a medium pot and add the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the thyme and the Jerusalem artichokes slices and stir to blend the ingredients. Check the seasoning. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes and add 4 cups water.
• Cook until the Jerusalem artichokes are completely tender, 25 to 30 minutes. If the liquid reduces too much during this cooking time, add the remaining 1 cup water. Remove the roasted ones from the oven, quarter them and add them directly to the soup mixture. Taste for seasoning.
• Remove the thyme from the pot. Add the cream. Puree the soup in small batches in the blender (or a hand blender) until smooth. For a more "rustic" texture, puree only 1/2 and leaving the other 1/2 "chunky." Serve with crusty sourdough or a seeded bread to bring out the naturally nutty flavor of the soup.
• Serving suggestion: Crusty sourdough bread or seeded bread.

SILKEN SUNCHOKE SOUP

Steps:

• What To Do 1. Set a small pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Add lentils and pinch salt and simmer until lentils are just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain. 2. Meanwhile, make soup: Set a deep pot over medium heat and swirl in 2 tablespoons oil. Add onions, leeks, shallots, garlic and celery. Sweat until softened and translucent, 3-4 minutes. Add sunchokes and sweat until slightly softened, 1-2 minutes more. 3. Add enough stock to just cover vegetables and raise heat to high. Wrap spices and ginger in cheesecloth, secure with kitchen twine and add sachet to pot. Once soup comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium-high and simmer steadily until sunchokes are fork-tender, 20-30 minutes. 4. While vegetables simmer, assemble garnish: Peel and cut reserved sunchokes into ¼-inch dice. Set a medium pan over medium heat and swirl in remaining oil. Once hot, sauté diced sunchokes until tender and golden all over, about 5 minutes. 5. Mix sautéed sunchokes with cooked lentils, apples and chives. Season with salt to taste. Set aside. 6. Once vegetables have simmered, set a sieve over a large bowl and pour soup through to separate vegetables from stock. Discard sachet and reserve stock. In a food processor, purée vegetables until smooth. 7. Return puréed vegetables to pot and stir in enough stock to create a loose yet creamy consistency. Bring mixture back to a simmer and season with salt and white pepper to taste. 8. To serve, ladle soup into bowls and place a large spoonful of sunchoke-apple-lentil garnish in center of each bowl.

SUNCHOKE AND SAUSAGE SOUP

Steps:

• Place the turkey bacon, turkey sausage, artichokes, potatoes, celery, onion, leek, spinach, and garlic into a large saucepan. Pour in the chicken stock, and season with parsley, basil, oregano, cayenne pepper, paprika, salt, and pepper. Cover, and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 45 minutes.
• Stir the flour into the water until no lumps remain. Stir into the simmering soup, and continue simmering, covered, 30 minutes until thickened, stirring occasionally.

CREAM OF JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE/SUNCHOKE SOUP

Steps:

• In a large soup pot heat olive oil over medium high heat until the scent starts to bloom.
• Add onions, leeks, and garlic to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened. About 5 minutes.
• Add Jerusalem artichokes and potatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add chicken broth and bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to keep at a low boil.
• Cook 15-20 minutes, or until Jerusalem artichokes and potatoes are tender.
• Reduce heat to low. Using a stick blender, or by transferring to a blender, puree soup until smooth.
• Stir in cream.
• In warmed soup bowls place 1/3 cup baby spinach leaves and ladle soup over until it covers spinach.

SUNCHOKE (JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE) AND LEEK SOUP WITH MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir the leek in the hot oil until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir the sunchokes, celery, carrot, and garlic into the leeks. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Add the bay leaves and 1/2 bunch chopped tarragon. Increase the heat to high; cook and stir until the vegetables are hot, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Pour the vermouth into the pan; bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the vegetable broth, reduce heat to medium-low, and bring the mixture to a simmer; cook until the vegetables are completely tender, about 30 minutes. Reserving a few sprigs for garnish, add the watercress to the soup; allow the watercress to wilt in the hot soup, about 5 minutes.
• While the soup simmers, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms to the melted butter, season with salt and pepper, and cook until completely tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining tarragon and set aside.
• Remove and discard the bay leaves. Reserve about 1/3 of the soup in a separate pot. Pour the other 2/3 of the soup into a blender in batches, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Holding the lid of the blender with towel, carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into the pot with the unblended portion. Serve in bowls, topping each with a large spoonful of the cooked mushrooms and a sprig of watercress.