Jerusalem artichokes: how to choose, store, roast and enjoy them
Knobbly, nutty and sweetest after the first frost. How to buy, keep and cook Jerusalem artichokes, raw with bagna cauda or roasted until crisp.
There is a corner of my garden I never have to plant. Three winters ago a neighbour gave me a handful of knobbly tubers, I pushed them into the soil by the hen house, and now every November I have a forest of dead brown stalks taller than me and more Jerusalem artichokes than one woman can eat. I am not complaining.
In Piedmont we call them topinambur, in Sweden they are jordärtskockor, and they are one of the best things in the shops right now. They are no relation to the globe artichoke. They are the roots of a sunflower cousin from North America, and they taste of artichoke heart, hazelnut and a little smoke. The first frosts turn some of their starch to sugar, so early November is when they start to get really good.
Here is how to choose them, keep them and cook them, plus one honest warning.
Choosing and storing
- Pick: firm, heavy tubers with tight skin and no soft or wrinkled patches. Smoother, less knobbly ones are far easier to clean.
- Keep: unwashed, in a paper bag in the vegetable drawer. Their skin is thin and they lose moisture fast, so use them within a week or so.
- In the garden: leave them in the ground and dig as you need them. They are fine there all winter, as long as the soil is not frozen solid when you want some.
- Prepare: scrub with a stiff brush. The skin is edible, so peel only if it is very knobbly or tough. Cut flesh browns quickly, so drop slices into water with a squeeze of lemon.
Raw, the Piedmont way
At home they go to the table raw, sliced thin, next to the bagna cauda: the warm dip of olive oil, garlic and anchovy that every Piedmontese family argues about. Raw topinambur is crisp and sweet, a little like water chestnut, and it holds the oil beautifully. Slice them on a mandoline at the very last minute, or keep the slices in lemon water until you sit down.
They are just as good shaved into a salad with apple, toasted hazelnuts, parsley and a sharp lemon dressing. That is a five-minute lunch.
Roasted, puréed, crisped
- Roast: halve or cut into chunks, toss with olive oil, salt, a few unpeeled garlic cloves and rosemary, and roast at 200°C for 35 to 45 minutes, turning once, until caramelised outside and creamy inside.
- Soup: sweat with onion and a little celery, add stock, simmer until soft and blend. A spoon of brown butter and toasted hazelnuts on top is the finishing touch.
- Purée: cook in milk with a bay leaf, blend with butter. Serve under seared scallops, a pork chop or a roast bird.
- Crisps: slice paper thin, dry well on a cloth, then fry at 170°C until golden. Salt them straight away.
- Gratin: layer thin slices with potato, cream and a little Parmigiano, bake slowly at 180°C until bubbling.
Recipe: jerusalem artichoke veloute with brown butter hazelnuts
Bella's tip: Roast them cut side down on a hot tray and leave them alone for the first 20 minutes. Moving them too early means they steam instead of browning, and the browned edges are the whole point.
The honest warning
Jerusalem artichokes are rich in inulin, a fibre we cannot digest, and the bacteria in our gut ferment it with enthusiasm. In plain words: they can give you wind, and some people get it badly. If you are new to them, start with a small portion as a side rather than a whole bowl of soup. Long cooking makes them gentler for many people, and a pinch of something sharp alongside, lemon or a few capers, never hurts. My nonna simply served them at lunch, never at dinner. A wise woman.
Any you cannot eat this week can be made into soup and frozen. Raw tubers do not freeze well, but a purée or a velouté keeps for about three months and tastes just the same in January.
What to pour
- Arneis: Crisp, pear-scented white from the Roero, lovely with raw slices and bagna cauda.
- Barbera d'Asti: For the roasted tubers with rosemary and garlic. Its fresh acidity cuts the caramel.
- Dry Marsala or an amontillado sherry: A small glass with the hazelnut soup. Nutty with nutty.
Guide: roasting resting
