Sunday, January 29, 2012

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.

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