Jerusalem artichoke soup or Sunchoke Soup is a wonderfully nutty creamy winter warmer from a wonderful but underused vegetable.
Creamy & Comforting Jerusalem Artichoke Soup.
Does anyone get the feeling that I am rather fond of soup? This one is wonderfully sweet and nutty and is made from an ingredient that think is woefully underused.
Jerusalem artichokes or Sunchokes as they are called in some parts of the world are a really versatile, if ugly vegetable.
They roast wonderfully and they were my roasted vegetable of choice this Christmas Lunch.
But they also make amazing chips, crisps, puree, mash and of course soup!
Whilst I am on the subject of Jerusalem artichoke puree you really must check out this pork chop recipe. It comes with both a Jerusalem artichoke puree and a great blackberry sauce!
I love velvety soups like this. Soups like this sunchoke soup, my broccoli and stilton soup or cream of asparagus soup are comfort food personified.
Give me a hunk of nutty bread and I am in heaven!
What are Sunchokes?
For those of you who have never heard of Jerusalem Artichokes, they look a little similar to lumps of ginger but they taste nothing like ginger at all.
They have a sweet nutty flavour almost like a cross between hazelnuts and chestnuts.
Texturally they are very similar to a sweet potato when cooked.
It may sound all a bit odd but they are delicious and this soup is a really simple gateway to start cooking with them.
Can I Grow Them In My Garden?
One thing to note if you fancy growing them in your garden is to make sure you LOVE them!
They are easy to grow and almost impossible to stop growing them.
When I say easy to grow, they thrive in any environment, soil type, amount of sun and moisture content seem to have no bearing.
We planted some up a few years ago and it took years to be able to get rid of them. You need to remove every single solitary last tuber from the ground or they will spring up year after year.
Great you may say but we have a pretty well-organised crop rotation routine that helps us grow organically. Having a belligerent crop of Jerusalem artichokes getting in the bloody way proves to be a nightmare.
We have now taken to growing them in an old dustbin which works really well. It means I can get on with loving them and not finding them a thorn in my side!
Simple Cream of Jerusalem Artichoke Soup
This nutty creamy Jerusalem artichoke soup is the perfect winter warming bowl of goodness. Break out a nice wholegrain loaf of bread and tuck in!
Ingredients
- 50 g Butter
- 75 g Onion
- 50 g Celery
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- 1 Tsp Cumin Seeds
- 500 g Jerusalem Artichokes
- 1 Tsp Lemon juice
- 250 ml Vegetable stock
- 100 g Sour Cream, optional
- Salt and Pepper as needed
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion and finely slice the garlic and celery.
- Peel and finely slice the Jerusalem artichokes into 5mm thick coins.
- Heat the butter over a medium heat in saucepan.
- Add in the onion and celery and cook for 5 minutes, the onions should then be soft and translucent.
- Add in the garlic and cumin seeds and cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Stir in the Jerusalem artichokes and cook for 5 minutes.
- Then add in the vegetable stock along with the lemon juice and cook until the artichokes are soft, about 15-20 minutes depending on size.
- When the artichokes are soft, blend the soup until smooth and stir in the sour cream.
- Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper as required and serve.
Notes
The sweet nuttiness of this soup goes really well with a dark malty bread, top it with a little paprika or some freshly grated nutmeg.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 432
I am excited to make this soup but not familiar with converting grams to teaspoons,tablespoons and cups. How do I convert the measurements?
Hi Sandra… I am really not familiar with cups at all, we just do not use them in Europe, but I use this as a start when I am trying to convert the other way 🙂
I do use teaspoons and tablespoons, I highly recommend buying an electronic scale with a tare function, it should cost you no more than 10 dollars, they will shift seamlessly between imperial and metric measurements.
Enjoy 🙂
I grew Jerusalem artichokes in a raised bed one year. Fortunately it was a short row and we were able to extract them all so they didn’t grow back. Next time I see them available at the market, I’ll have to buy some so I can try this soup. It sounds delicious!
lol, if only I had of done that 😉
So I’ve just heard about these sunchokes recently. This soup looks delicious and creamy. I hope to find some of these at the markets to give this a try. Looks great.
It is very good, you must give them a try, wonderfully nutty and almost sweet.
Wow! That sounds ahhhh-mazing. I clearly need this in my life.
It is very very good!
I have ate this at the “fancy” restaurants and loved it, but I have never made it myself. I am so excited to find this recipe and try to make it at home. It looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing!
As you can see it is far from ‘fancy’ just a really simple cream of soup… It has a great flavour, enjoy!
This looks and sounds amazing! I adore soup! Can’t wait to try your recipe!
Enjoy!
Twenty years! Brian! I have never had a Jersusalem artichoke. I always thought they were more like “artichoke” artichokes, which I love eating but have no interest in preparing.
They do seem to be a vegetable that has dropped from view, my guess is because the refuse to grow uniformly and are often ugly as sin and as such difficult to market (ever the cynic) but they are really tasty and I love them… And most importantly no where near the headache to prepare that globe artichokes are.
Am intrigued…I’ve never tried or heard of Jerusalem Artichoke before but this makes me want to try it! It looks wonderful. Am going to be on the look out.
It does not surprise me it is a woefully underused and resiliant vegetable, I think it is less popular with commercial growers as it is very difficult to contain! You may have come across it by its ‘American’ name Sunchoke?
I haven’t made anything with Jerusalem Artichoke but this is certainly an inspiration. I love soup and we make a pot once a week — sometimes more often. This is going on the roster. Thank you for sharing, Brian.
Thanks Marisa, I’m with you on the soup thing… I think I have a major obsession with it and make different types all the time!
As it stands I have some lovely Jerusalem Artichoke sitting in the fridge. Hubby bought it and now he has no idea what to do with it… well we just have an answer 🙂
Excellent please let me know how you get on, I love these wee ugly vegetables, they have the most incredible flavour.
That looks good! I haven’t tried cooking with Jerusalem artichokes yet.
Cheers David they are a much underused vegetable in my mind. Wonderfully sweet, nutty and incredibly versatile.
This sounds so delicious, I never thought to grow my own artichoke but this has really inspired me. Thank you for sharing this amazing soup can’t wait to try it
Thanks Khadija, I hope you enjoy!
Gosh I haven’t thought of these in years! Such a nutritious delicious veggie! I too grew them for a while. They don’t do well here. But they did mange to replenish their scrawny selves all over our garden space! I think i’ll stop and pick some up at the grocery and make this soup! Perfect winter comfort food!
Glad to add a reminder Diane, I love these things… More than happy to have them now contained to a bin now rather than where ever they choose to grow, they join a list of just 2 things that we refuse to grow in t our plots as they are a pain, these and garbanzo beans (chick peas)… Give them a wide berth!