Rebecca’s Recipe of the Week: Jerusalem Artichokes | Canalside Community Food

Here, in honour of Canalside’s surprise Jerusalem artichoke harvest, is a simple recipe. Jerusalem artichokes originated in North America; they were one of the many new foods that reached Europe in the aftermath of Columbus’s 1492 voyage to the Americas. Their name has nothing to do with the Middle-Eastern city. Rather, it reflects the fact that Jerusalem artichokes are botanically related to the sunflower, or girasole in Italian. ‘Jerusalem’ is an approximation of the Italian name. The ‘artichoke’ bit reflects the vague similarity in taste between globe artichokes and our little tubers. In French the name . . . , well, that’s probably enough history.

Jerusalem Artichokes with Cream and Herbs
Serves 4 as a side dish.

Ingredients
500g Jerusalem artichokes
4 shallots, peeled
2 cloves of garlic
150ml crème fraîche
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1 lemon
150g medium-hard cheese, grated. You could use Emmental, gruyère, Jarlsberg, or Gouda, for instance. Cheddar would work too.
4 sprigs of fresh thyme, or about 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
a handful of parsley, chopped

Preparation
Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Bring a large pan of water to the boil.

Once the water is boiling drop in the Jerusalem artichokes and boil gently for 15 minutes, and drain. This allegedly reduces the tuber’s gas-inducing tendencies.

While the Jerusalem artichokes are cooking cut the shallots lengthwise into boat-shaped pieces. Finely chop the garlic.

Cut the drained Jerusalem artichokes into chunks.

Combine everything aside from the parsley and tip into an ovenproof dish.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until the Jerusalem artichokes are tender. The top should turn an appetising golden colour but keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t burn.

Remove from the oven and top with the chopped parsley and an additional grind or two of pepper.

Recipe adapted from http://www.jarlsberg.com/uk/recipes/jerusalem-atichokes-au-gratin