Jerusalem Artichoke Risotto
Thursday, 5th January 2017 by Chen

This recipe has come full circle! It comes from a blog by someone called Sarah who now lives in Boston. She says she picked this recipe up from Growing Communities when she lived in London and used to be on the veg bag scheme - receiving our weekly printed newsletters with recipes.

She says: "We had no choice about what we received in our weekly supply, and so I cooked for the first time with beetroot, Jerusalem artichoke, kale.. to name but a few. We also used to receive recipe sheets each week with our produce, and one of the weeks included this recipe for Jerusalem risotto, which I made, and promptly fell in love with."

Check out the full story on her blog An Orange Kitchen: a year of adventures in my Boston kitchen.

Serves 2.

Ingredients

2 knobs butter (or use olive oil for a vegan version)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion – finely chopped
2 cloves garlic – finely chopped
Jerusalem artichokes – approx 10
Salt & pepper
200g / 1 cup Arborio risotto rice (or another risotto rice)
100ml dry white wine
600ml chicken or vegetable stock
Squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
Approx 1tbsp grated parmesan, plus more to serve (optional)

Wash the Jerusalem artichokes, if they are dirty, and peel. Slice them into very thin rounds – you could use a mandolin if you have one. Put the slices into a bowl of water with lemon juice to prevent discolouration.

Heat one of the knobs of butter with the olive oil in a medium sauce pan until the butter has melted. Add the onion and garlic, turn the heat down very low and saute for two minutes. Add the artichokes to the pan, season with salt and pepper, and allow to cook until the mix reaches the consistency of jam/marmalade – this can take around 30-40 minutes. Stir every few minutes, to ensure none of the mix is catching on the bottom of the pan. Heat the stock in a pan, and keep warm on the stove.

Turn the heat up slightly – add the risotto rice and allow to toast slightly, before adding the white wine. Cook, stirring, until the wine has been absorbed. Add the stock a ladle at a time – stir regularly, and allow each ladle of stock to be absorbed before adding the next ladle of stock. Continue this process until the rice is cooked to your liking – you may not need all of the stock, or you may need more. If you run out, continue with hot water. Taste, season with salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice, if you like.

Take the pan off the heat, add the second knob of butter and the parmesan, and stir until melted. Serve immediately, topped with more grated parmesan.