Hairy Bikers Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

Nobody peels the artichokes in Hairy Bikers Jerusalem artichoke soup, and that is deliberate. Eat Well Every Day publishes it as leek and Jerusalem artichoke soup, built on 500g of scrubbed artichokes with leeks, celery and a litre of stock. Four bowls come to 264 calories each.

Leaving the skin on is why the book puts this in its gut health chapter, since one bowl gives you 10g of fibre. They are honest about the other side of that, saying the artichokes might make you windy but they are an excellent gut-friendly food.

Ten minutes of hard frying comes before any liquid. Onion, celery, leeks and artichokes all go into hot oil together and cook until the edges start to brown, and that browning is where the flavour comes from.

Hairy Bikers Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Simmering Cuisine:British Courses:Soup

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 10 minutesCook time: 30 minutesRest time: minutesTotal time: 40 minutesServings:4 servingsCalories:264 kcal Best Season:Winter

Description

Toasted hazelnuts and a drizzle of hazelnut oil go on at the table and make the bowl. Underneath, leeks, celery and unpeeled artichokes fry hard for ten minutes before the stock goes in. This Hairy Bikers Jerusalem artichoke soup blends smooth and serves four.

Ingredients

For the soup

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 15g butter, or another 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 celery stick, chopped
• 2 leeks, sliced
• 500g Jerusalem artichokes, scrubbed and chopped
• 1 tsp thyme leaves
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 litre well-flavoured chicken or vegetable stock
• salt and black pepper

To garnish

• drizzle of olive or hazelnut oil
• 25g hazelnuts, toasted and lightly crushed

Instructions

1. Fry the vegetables: Heat the olive oil and butter, if using, in a large saucepan. Add the onion, celery, leeks and artichokes and sauté over a high heat for about 10 minutes, until they start to soften.
2. Add the aromatics: Stir in the thyme leaves and garlic and cook for another couple of minutes, then season with salt and pepper.
3. Simmer: Pour in the stock and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables are completely tender.
4. Blend: Blitz with a stick blender or in a jug blender. Pass it through a sieve if you want it completely smooth, though it should not be necessary.
5. Serve: Drizzle with oil and scatter over the toasted hazelnuts.

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FAQs

Do Jerusalem artichokes really make you windy?

They can, and the book says so rather than dodging it. They contain a fibre your body cannot digest, so it travels down to your gut where bacteria feed on it, and that is what makes the gas.

Those same bacteria are the good ones, which is why the book puts this recipe in a chapter about gut health. The thing causing the wind is the thing doing you good.

Should I peel them after all?

Only if the wind bothers you. Most of that fibre sits in the skin, so peeling means less of it, though you lose the goodness and spend a long time doing it.

The book scrubs them instead and keeps the fibre. If artichokes are new to you, have a small bowl rather than peeling, because eating a lot at once is what causes trouble. The leeks, celery and onion in this soup already spread the artichokes out, which helps more than people expect.

Is there anything else that helps?

Cooking them properly does most of the work, and this recipe already gives them 25 minutes between the frying and the simmering. The longer they cook, the gentler they get.

A squeeze of lemon in the pan helps too, because acid softens that fibre further. It is not in the recipe, so add it while the soup simmers if you want to. Their red lentil and harissa soup finishes with lemon as well, though there it is purely for the taste.

Why hazelnuts on top?

Because the soup underneath is soft and sweet, so it needs something with bite. Toasted hazelnuts and a drizzle of hazelnut oil bring crunch and a roasted flavour that matches the nuttiness of the artichokes.

Toast them dry in a pan for a few minutes, then crush them lightly so you get pieces rather than dust. Their asparagus soup has the same problem and fixes it another way, holding back whole tips to drop in at the end.

When can I buy Jerusalem artichokes?

From late autumn to early spring, and they are cheapest in the middle of that stretch. Look for them with the root vegetables near the parsnips, since they are not related to globe artichokes at all.

They look like knobbly ginger. Buy them firm, keep them in the fridge, and pick the smoother ones if you get a choice, because the knobbly ones take longer to scrub. Their celeriac and apple soup uses the other ugly winter root, and both are around at the same time.