jerusalem artichoke soup with parsley coulis {ffwd}
We’re in the home stretch, the last autumn cooking through Around My French Table, so we’re making sure to cover the recipes with seasonal ingredients that won’t be available as the rest of the year unfolds. Somehow we skipped Jerusalem artichokes the last three autumns of French Fridays with Dorie, so now we have to make up for that oversight.
A few weeks ago, Jerusalem artichokes made their debut appearance when we roasted them with garlic. This week, they are the star of a simple velvety soup. Same nutty vegetable, two completely different textures. And learning from round one, I knew to pick tubers that had fewer warts and knobs for ease of peeling.
The soup starts off by sautéing a pile of ivory and pale green vegetables (onions, garlic, leek and celery) in butter. Once the vegetables are soft, chunks of Jerusalem artichokes get added and sautéed some more. The chokes were supposed to soften after 15 minutes before the chicken broth gets added. Mine were not soft, but I assumed the long simmer in broth that followed would fully cook them. I was right. The final step is to process the soup in the blender for a smooth puree.
Not surprisingly, all those white vegetables result in a bland looking bowl. Parsley coulis adds color to the bowl. Parsley leaves are quickly blanched then cooled in ice water, drained and patted dry. To make coulis, the parsley is pureed with olive oil. I must have packed my parsley leaves more than I should have. My coulis was thick and chunky, even after I added extra oil. It was more like pesto without nuts or cheese, rather than something that would drizzle. It didn’t look as pretty as it might have, though it tasted just fine.
This soup is light enough for a starter for dinner, which is how I served it. With crusty bread or crackers, it would also make a nice lunch. I still think it’s not worth it to seek out Jerusalem artichokes, but if you have a ready source, this soup is lovely.
If you want to check out the other Doristas’s soup bowls, you can follow their links from here. The recipe can be found in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table or on Google Books.
Posted on 7 November 2014, in Autumn, French Fridays with Dorie, Soup and tagged French Fridays with Dorie, jerusalem artichokes, soup. Bookmark the permalink. 14 Comments.
A Plateful of Happiness 
I’ve never had a Jerusalem artichoke before, so I’m looking forward to trying both recipes, now that they’re available in my supermarket. I’m a sucker for soup!
I never did find any Jerusalem artichokes, so I made a faux version. Not my favorite soup. I’m hoping that using pesto as suggested by others will make it more yummy!
That coulis seemed harder to get right than the actual soup. I’m glad you were in camp “like” and that it worked for you.
I had trouble getting my coulis to be drizzly too, but it did add a nice flavor and pop of color to the soup. We liked it!
Yours looks very tasty! Glad you enjoyed it! I used ½ potatoes and ½ sunchokes and it was quite good! I would definitely make it again! However, I’m glad we’re done with the sunchokes! Happy Friday, Betsy!
I loved the flavours in this soup, too. It’s interesting to see how much colour variation there was between everyone’s soups. Some were golden, some brown, and one even looked grey. I see sunchokes every year at the markets around here and now I won’t hesitate to pick them up.
I had the same issue with my coulis. It was more of a spooning than drizzling! I’m glad you like the soup. I have given up on finding Jerusalem Artichokes! When I was in Dallas one of the Whole Foods said they had them a week ago and will probably have them again in a couple of weeks. My Whole Foods said they don’t carry them. Now its on to the kumquat search!
Betsy, your cream of Jerusalem artichoke soup looks wonderful – chunky parsley coulis or not – it is a nice soup to enjoy at this time of year and while some might find it bland, we rather liked it as well.
Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday,
Andrea
I knew this soup would not be a winner so I skipped making the coulis and just added
grated cheese hoping for additional flavor. Unfortunately that didn’t work either.
Oh well, we can’t win them all. At least we have the duck to look forward to. Happy
weekend.
Better late than never:) I did not find the elusive Jerusalem artichokes but did a make up instead.
It sounds like we had similar experiences with the soup in terms of it being good and the coulis being ornery. I also agree that I wouldn’t go out of my way to find those artichokes. Glad you liked the soup and I love the photo of the parsley! So green!
If you blanched your parsley, then you are a WAAAYYYY better woman that I am.
Those knobs are very dangerous to knuckles – I envy people who can find straight sunchokes :-)
I am guessing that next week’s duck with fruit will not be a hit for at least half of your household either…
Bonus points to you for using the little JA’s again :) And too funny- I had the same reaction as you about learning to get the most straight and nobby-less ones the next time. I actually had gotten a second round of them but they spoilt before I made the soup. Was very surprised that they did not keep like onions or potatoes. Since I was not a fan I could not bring myself to buy a third batch. Chicken indeed ……:) Tricia
I didn’t make the parsley coulis, but I think I’ve made very other version and particularly love the basil version. It’s kind of a lazy man’s pesto and it’s absolutely delicious and has a fabulous color. It really adds great flavor to soups.