Open Table

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE SOUP

I always get excited when I see fruit and vegetables coming into season.  Today I popped along to The Aldeburgh Market and was thrilled to find Jerusalem Artichoke for sale.

I instantly had cravings for soup.  I bought a bag of the Artichoke then headed to the bakers for a crusty loaf of bread. 

Once home the children and I made soup for our lunch ... 

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE SOUP - Serves 6

Ingredients

1 Medium onion, 1 Clove of grated garlic, 750g Peeled and chopped Jerusalem Artichoke Frozen, 750ml Boiling water, 3 Teaspoons of Bouillon Stock powder, 100ml Double Cream, Salt and Pepper

• Slice the onions and place in a sauce pan on a low heat with a generous slug of olive oil.  Allow them to cook for a few minutes until they are soft.
• While the onions are cooking boil the kettle and make up 750ml of stock.  For this recipe I add three teaspoons of bouillon powder to 750ml of boiling water
• Grate the garlic into the onions and stir for a minute
• Add the Jerusalem Artichoke and the boiling stock to the pan.  Bring to the boil, once boiling allow to simmer for 20-25 minutes until the Jerusalem Artichoke has become very soft.
• Season with salt and pepper and blend
• Once blended mix in the cream, check the seasoning and serve

 Cooking notes

I bought 1.2kg of Jerusalem Artichoke ... once I had peeled and chopped them all up I was left with 750g 

To test whether the artichoke are ready, gently stab with a fork ... if the fork goes in very easly, like it would through softened butter then they are cooked. 

I tend to use a hand held blender for this and blend in the saucepan ... if your worried about it spitting use normal blender.

Adapting

If you like soup very creamy add more to taste. 

PEA SOUP

My brother and his wife are over from Toronto ... it is their last visit before they have their baby.  We spent the morning going through boxes of baby clothes so they can take them back with them ... It was great going through so many tiny outfits ... there are so many wonderful memories within them.  I really had forgotton how small both my children were.

After we had filled a couple of suitcases with clothes, blankets, baby kit ... we had lunch.  Jess, my sister in law loves green vegetables ... actually love is a bit of an understatement ... if she could live off one thing it would be green veg.

With this in mind I made pea soup which we ate with a delicious baguette from our local french bakery ... bliss.

PEA SOUP - Serves 4

Ingredients

1 Medium onion, 2 Cloves of grated garlic, 500g Frozen petit pois peas, 600ml Boiling water, 2 Teaspoons of Bouillon Stock powder, Double Cream, 25g Gruyere, Salt and Pepper

• Slice the onions and place in a sauce pan on a low heat with a generous slug of olive oil.  Allow them to cook for a few minutes until they are soft.
• While the onions are cooking boil the kettle and make up 600ml of stock.  For this recipe I add two good  teaspoons of bouillon powder to 600ml of boiling water
• Grate the garlic into the onions and stir for a minute
• Add the frozen peas then the boiling stock to the pan.  Bring the peas to the boil, once boiling allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes until the peas are cooked through and are starting to go squidgy
• Season with salt and pepper and blend
• Once blended add a dollop of cream (about 2-3 tablespoons) and grate in 25g of Gruyere ... 

Cooking notes

I tend to add quite a bit of seasoning to this soup ... and more pepper than salt as the stock is fairly salty.  If you like soup very creamy feel free to add more to taste. 

I tend to use a hand held blender for this and blend in the saucepan ... if your worried about it spitting when you do this use normal blender.

Adapting

The Gruyere can be replaced with Parmesan.  

 

GRANNY’S SOUP (butternut squash and pear soup)

What a day ... after too much whining i am taking refuge in ‘Granny’s Soup’, which is the name my children have given this dish, my mummy taught me how to make it and we all love it:

GRANNY’S SOUP (butternut squash and pear soup) - Serves 4 

Ingredients 

1 Medium onion, 1 Butternut squash (approx 1kg in weight), 4 Pears , 500 Mil Stock, 2cm Square of peeled ginger , Salt and Pepper, Double cream (optional)

• Turn the oven to 190
• Cut the butternut squash in half, deseed it and place on baking tray in the oven for 30-40 minutes until soft
• Remove from oven and leave to cool slightly
• Chop the onion and place in saucepan with some olive oil, cook for a couple of minutes on medium heat till the onion is cooked through
• While the onion is cooking peel and cut up the pears, remove the skin from the butternut squash
• Once the onion is cooked add the pears, flesh from the butternut squash and stock to the pan and bring to the boil
• Turn down to a gentle simmer and grate half the ginger into the soup
• Allow to simmer for 10 minutes, by which time the pear should be very soft
• Liquidize the soup, grate in the last of the ginger and serve with a splash of double cream and crusty bread

Cooking notes

Make sure the pear is soft before you liquidize the soup.

Adapting

If you don’t like creamy soup leave out the cream.  If you don’t have pears use apples, they will take longer to cook so make the chunks smaller and make sure they are soft before you liquidize.