Vegetarian Recipe: Sunchoke Bisque with Pumpkin Seed Oil and Sunflower Sprouts

This week on Good Food, Evan talks to Deborah Madison, pictured left, about her new book Vegetable Literacy. This recipe for Sunchoke Bisque with Pumpkin Seed Oil and Sunflower Sprouts comes from the book and features sunchokes, also known as “Jerusalem artichokes.”

Much like her recipe for Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk, Miso, and Lime, this bisque is a great staple for this time of year for those who love sunchokes. If you have never cooked with them before, she says that “a soup is a good and safe place to start.”

Sunchoke Bisque with Pumpkin Seed Oil and Sunflower Sprouts

For 4 to 6

For those of you who are unsure about Jerusalem artichokes, a soup is a good and safe place to start. This one is pureed, so you don’t need to worry about finely cutting the potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes.

2 tablespoons safflower or sunflower seed oil

1 small onion, sliced

3 small yellow-fleshed potatoes, scrubbed and cut into chunks

1 pound Jerusalem artichokes, scrubbed and chopped

1 celery stalk, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 cups water, vegetable stock, or chicken stock

Sea salt

2 bay leaves

Milk, half-and-half, or heavy cream, for thinning (optional)

Freshly ground pepper to finish

Roasted pumpkin seed oil

1/2 cup croutons, crisped in ghee or olive oil

Sunflower sprouts

Heat the oil in a soup pot over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion, potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, and celery. Sauté over high heat, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic during the last few minutes. Pour in the water or stock, add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and the bay leaves, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes.

Let cool briefly, then remove the bay leaves and purée the soup until smooth. Return the soup to the pot and reheat over gentle heat. Add milk as needed to thin the bisque to the desired consistency. Taste for salt and season with pepper.

Ladle into bowls and drizzle a few drops of the pumpkin seed oil over the surface of each serving. Top each bowl with a few croutons, then finish with a small clump of sunflower sprouts and serve.

With Sauteed Radicchio: Sliver then sauté radicchio in olive oil or safflower seed oil until wilted and browned, then garnish each bowl of soup with it, along with the sunflower sprouts, or not.