Merry Jerusalem Artichoke Day!

On the 13th of Brumaire, we celebrate the Jerusalem Artichoke. I have seen and heard of them more commonly as sunchokes. Wikipedia has an explanation of its name – it is neither related to Jerusalem or artichokes. The flower on the plant resembles a sunflower, which in Italian is girasole. This perhaps mutated into “Jerusalem” in English. The flavor evokes an artichoke, but is distinctly different.

I’ve done a riff on a Food Network Jerusalem Artichoke soup. I’ve used only a few sunchokes and added some sweet potato. It would be nice to slice them thinly also and roast with oil and salt.

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup 

3-4 sunchokes

1 cup of diced red onion

1 clove garlic

4 sprigs of fresh thyme

3 cups of vegetable stock (I used chicken)

1 sweet potato

1 cup of heavy cream

First, wash and dry the sunchokes. Drizzle some olive oil over them and the sweet potato and roast at 400 until tender (30 minutes – maybe longer for the potato). Slice the sunchokes and potato when they are done cooking. Add some olive oil to a medium sized pan and cook the onion and garlic for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Then, add the thyme and cook for a minute until fragrant. Add the roasted sunchokes and sweet potato and the stock. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered. Once done, puree the mixture in a blender or food processor along until smooth. Add the heavy cream. Serve with some crusty bread and enjoy!