Jerusalem artichoke puree

In the Netherlands, everybody knows this old-fashioned children’s song by heart. “In een groen, groen, groen, groen knollen-knollenland. Daar zaten twee haasjes heel parmant. En de één die blies de fluite-fluite-fluit. En de ander sloeg de trommel…” 

A song or a poem never translates well, but it goes something like this. “In a green, green, green, green tubers tubers country. There were two little hares quite dapper. There was one who blew the flute, flute, flute. And the other hit the drum… ” Although our country is far from green at the moment, winter is exactly the right time to cook with tubers like the fragrant Jerusalem artichoke, also called topinambour or earth apple. Try this Jerusalem artichoke puree with grilled green vegetables, red meat or chicken.

Jerusalem artichoke soup

Make an extra portion of this puree and turn it into a steamy soup. Slice the Jerusalem artichokes very fine in the food processor, scoop them into a pan and add mushroom broth until you have a soup of the desired thickness.

Recipe jerusalem artichoke puree

with shiitake and thyme

Ingredients

750 gram Jerusalem artichoke
100 gram shiitake
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove
4 fresh thyme sprigs
1/2 mushroom bouillon cube
freshly ground black pepper

Bereiding

Peel the Jerusalem artichokes with a vegetable peeler and cut into chunks. Cut the shiitake into slices.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Press the garlic over the pan. Add the Jerusalem artichokes, shiitake and leaves from 1 sprig of thyme and boil for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add the bouillon cube and 2.5 dl of boiling water. Bring to the boil again and cook for about 10 minutes until soft.

Do not drain the water and mash into a chunky puree. Add black pepper to taste and stir. Sprinkle the remaining thyme on top.