This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)
Amit was helping me make this soup. The Jerusalem Artichoke was new for her so her (obvious) first question was why is it called like that.
What comes to mind first is that this vegetable is originated in the Jerusalem area, right? Well, wrong. Ilya remembered one of the tour guides in a Jerusalem tour he was on told them how the Jerusalem Artichoke received it’s name.
The origin of the “Jerusalem” part of the name is uncertain. Italian settlers in the United States called the plant girasole, the Italian word for sunflower, because of its resemblance to the garden sunflower. The artichoke part of the Jerusalem artichoke’s name comes from the taste of its edible tuber. Well, a mess, ain’t it? 🙂
Back to our business here: you should be seeing the Jerusalem Artichoke start showing up in markets around now (fall season). It acts like a potato and has a nuttier taste, and if you haven’t tried it yet I highly recommend you to.
My longing for the winter, rain, cool and fresh air, and a worm comforting soup, made me choose the Jerusalem Artichoke and make this soup this week.
*This soup is part of a special Rosh Hashana dinner project that I’ll publish here next week. You are welcome to subscribe to receive the weekly recipe, so you won’t miss out.
The Dishometer Rating:
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 10 big mushrooms (champignon or portobello, or better: or a mix of both), cubed
- 2 big carrots, pilled and cut into medium cubes
- 5 Jerusalem artichokes, pilled and cut into medium cubes
- 1-2 table spoons olive oil
- 2 tea spoons salt
- pepper, to taste
- ¼ tea spoon cumin
- ¼ tea spoon nutmeg
- 3.5 cups water (for the soup) + 1 (for the cream)
- ⅓ cup natural cashew/macadamia
- For serving: lemon
- Warm a soup pot with a bit of olive oil in it, add the onion and cook until they are golden, while stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and the mushrooms and cook for another couple of minutes, add the carrots and Jerusalem artichokes and cook for one more minute.
- Add the spices, and 3 and a half cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce hit and let simmer until the carrots and artichokes are soft (check wit a fork), about 20 minutes.
- While the soup is cooking, make the cashew/macadamia cream (the macadamia tastes a bit better to me, yet it is more expensive. Either way they both work real well here): Place ⅓ cup nuts and 1 cup water in the blender and blend until it is completely smooth.
- When the vegetables in the soup are soft enough, add the cream, and cook for a couple more minutes on medium heat.
- You can choose whether to process the soup in a stick blender now for a thicker soup, or add as is for a thinner soup (I think half blended is best, so some of the soup is thicker and some of the vegetables are still bite-able).
- Serve with a bit of fresh lemon squeezed into each bowl.
- *If you are adventurous and like a "taste of the sea" you could add in some seaweed slices as well.
P.S.
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Moran