Jerusalem artichoke and leek soup with roasted garlic cream

Vegetarian mains

Jerusalem artichoke and leek soup with roasted garlic cream

Name: Jerusalem artichoke and leek soup with roasted garlic cream
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4

Serves 4 45 min

This soup might seem like a bit of an effort, but the garlic roasts while the rest of the veg cooks and it'll all be ready in under an hour. A dollop of cream mixed with mellow roasted garlic really brings this velvety vegetarian winter soup to another level. Sweetly unctuous roasted garlic is so delicious that you might want to double the quantities while the oven's on and use the extra to spread on toast, over veg, or to stir into pasta.

Ingredients

1 garlic bulb, left whole
2 tbsp olive oil
2 large leeks, sliced
1 onion, chopped
600g Jerusalem artichokes, scrubbed and roughly chopped
1.2 litre veg stock
2 sprigs rosemary
1 bay leaf
a little nutmeg, freshly grated
4 tbsp double cream
splash of Marsala, Madeira or medium-dry sherry
salt and pepper

Method

Prep time: 10 min

Cooking time: 35 min

Step 1
Preheat oven to 200°C/Gas 6. Put the whole bulb of unpeeled garlic in a small baking dish. Roast for 40 minutes. Remove and leave to cool slightly. Squeeze each clove into a small saucepan and discard the skins. Leave to one side while you make the soup.
Step 2
Heat the oil in large saucepan. Add the leeks and onion. Fry gently for 8 minutes to soften. Add the artichokes, stock, rosemary and bay leaf and a little grating of nutmeg. Season.
Step 3
Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about25-30 minutes, until the artichokes are soft.
Step 4
Remove the bay leaf and rosemary (don't worry if there are a few leaves left in the soup). Blitz in a food processor or blender. Add the cream, booze and salt to the roasted garlic pan. Heat gently and mash the garlic into the cream.
Step 5
Serve the soup with a dollop of the cream and grate over a little extra nutmeg to serve.