It's Jerusalem Artichoke Season, ooooh yum! ~ Mariella

Jerusalem Artichokes are intimidating strange looking vegetables! But once you get the hang of preparing them, they are so delicious, with a strong nutty flavour which suits everything. They are actually part of the sunflower family, which is obvious once you’ve seen the flower, they take over the garden with their two meter high bushes and are sometimes referred to as Sunchokes. 

The harvest season for Jerusalem Artichokes is now and we have so many in the kitchen, we will have to be inventive and fast, for there is more in the beds begging to come out! The trade off for having access to such delicately delicious fare comes in two forms, the one is that they are a pain to clean and warrant the purchase of a veggie scrubbing brush, and the other is that the Inulin present can lead to a bubbly tummy. The remedy for this? Eat more of them and your body will get better at digesting the Inulin!

The best way to cook Jerusalem Artichoke is to not be scared of them and treat them as you would potatoes, they take about the same amount of time to cook. I suggest not peeling them and instead, cooking them as soon as you purchase them to ensure their freshness. If they aren’t plump and firm, they are not fresh and then I would recommend boiling them whole and squeezing the soft contents out to use in your cooking instead of peeling. Peeling them is torture fit for someone with lots of time on their hands! These are my favourite ways of preparing them:

-         Oven grilled in a Veg bake with Rosemary, remember they take as long as potatoes so cut them finer than the other ingredients.

-         Grated raw in salad. This works only when they are fresh, grate them and then allow them to marinade in a little lemon juice which you prepare the rest of the salad to reduce any starchiness.

-         Slice fine and add them to any soup, especially potato and pea, lentil, butternut soup.

-         Oven grill with Aubergine, onion and garlic and then chuck in the blender with olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, fresh oregano to make a divine tapenade.

-         You can also steam them and do the same as above.

-         Delicious in pasta sauce or any Italian cooking.

And not only are they Uber-Yum, they are high in Iron, Potassium, Vit B1. So, the next time you walk through a farmer’s market or supermarket and see these strange creations looming from baskets and boxes, you’ll know what to do with them!