Roast Potatoes and Jerusalem Artichokes with Lemon and Sage

While I was away, some friends moved back to Australia. Before leaving, they gave away things to people. I missed the giveaway, but the boy went in my place. He told me he had picked up two cookbooks so I was curious what they would be. I was delighted to discover that one of them was a book I've been debating buying for quite a while. I should've bought this book sooner, but I suppose getting it for free makes it worth the wait. The layers of flavour in this dish are excellent. I was low on Jerusalem artichokes, so I substituted parsnips for half of the Jerusalem artichokes. It added a bit of sweetness to an already fantastic dish.

Two years ago: Lentil, Goat Cheese, and Asparagus Salad

Roast Potatoes and Jerusalem Artichokes with Lemon and Sage (from Ottolenghi)

Ingredients
500g small potatoes
500g Jerusalem artichokes
4 garlic cloves, minced
50 ml olive oil
2 tbsp roughly chopped sage
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 lemon
250g cherry tomatoes
170g Kalamata olives, pitted
2 tbsp roughly chopped parsley

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Wash potatoes and place in large saucepan and cover with salted water. Bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes until semi-cooked. Drain, cool slightly, and cut in half (or quarters if your potatoes are larger). Place in roasting tray.
3. Wash Jerusalem artichokes and cut into slices 5mm thick. Add to potatoes.
4. Add garlic, olive oil, sage, salt and pepper to potatoes. Mix and put in oven to roast for 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, thinly slice lemon and remove pips.
6. Add lemon slices to vegetables, stir, and return to oven for 20 minutes.
7. Add cherry tomatoes and olives to vegetables, stir, and cook for another 15 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and stir in parsley. Serve.

Smashed Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes

I've become quite fond of Jerusalem artichokes (or sunchokes) after receiving the first set from the CSA box. These odd looking vegetables look almost like ginger, but are closer to potatoes, with a nutty and almost sweet flavour. This simple preparation highlights the great taste of the chokes.

Smashed Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes (from Gourmet Today)

Ingredients
500g small to medium Jerusalem artichokes, scrubbed
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Toss sunchokes with oil, 3/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper on large baking sheet. Spread in single layer.
3. Roast, turning occasionally until just tender, 30 minutes.
4. Flatten with a large heavy spatula and continue roasting, turning once until well-browned, 15 minutes.

Jerusalem Artichokes with Cheese and Basil Oil

You really can't go wrong with a recipes that has tomatoes, basil, and cheese. Add some roasted sunchokes and you have a beautiful side dish. I have two complaints with this dish though. (1) It calls for frying Manouri cheese which is a bit difficult to find. I substituted goat cheese, but missed out on the frying aspect! (2) It makes a lot of basil oil. I'm not sure what to do with the leftover!

Jerusalem Artichokes with Manouri and Basil Oil (from Plenty)

Ingredients
500g Jerusalem artichokes
juice of 2 small lemons
4 thyme sprigs
3 tbsp water
120mL olive oil
400g cherry tomatoes
400g manouri cheese, cut into 1 cm thick slices
1 red or white endive, separated into leaves
Basil oil
50g basil (leaves and stalks)
20g parsley (leaves and stalks
1 garlic clove, peeled
140mL olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 220C. Peel artichokes and slice into 1cm thick slices. Throw into water with juice of 1 lemon to prevent from browning.
2. Place artichokes in ovenproof dish. Add thyme, juice of second lemon, water, 1 tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper. Cover with foil and roast 40 - 45 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, put basil, parsley, garlic, and pinch of salt in a food processor. While running, drizzle in olive oil.
4. Meanwhile, place a large frying pan on high flame and heat. Add 1 tbsp oil and tomatoes and char them, shaking the pan. After 3 - 4 minutes, they should be lightly blackened but retain their shape. Sprinkle with salt, remove from pan, and add to cooked artichokes.
5. If using cheese slices, fry them in olive oil.
6. Arrange endive leaves on serving dishes. Top with cheese, artichokes, cherry tomatoes, and more endive leaves. Drizzle with basil oil and serve.

Sunchoke Gratin

This is an anti-climatic post for my 400th blog post, but it is somewhat fitting. I've been wanting to cook with sunchokes (also known as Jerusalem artichokes, they look a bit like ginger) for a while now and was delighted to see them in the CSA box. This dish was easy and did a nice job of highlighting the flavours of the sunchokes.

Two years ago: Penne Arrabiata Sauce

Sunchoke Gratin (from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking)

Ingredients
450g sunchokes
salt
butter
black pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Peel sunchokes and drop in salted, boiling water. Cook until they are tender, but not mushy, about 10 minutes.
3. Drain sunchokes and cut into 1/2" thick slices.
4. Smear a baking dish with butter and place sunchoke slices in it, arranging so they slightly overlap.
5. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and grated Parmesan, dot with butter, and place in oven.
6. Bake until a light golden crust begins to form.