Go Ask Alice: jerusalem artichoke and fennel soup

Annalena's readers know that she worships Alice Waters.  And the publication of a new book by the redoubtable Ms. Waters is cause for joy in Annalena's heart.    Now, Ms. Waters' new book came out some weeks ago, so it is not new, but it is new to Annalena , who just got to it yesterday.

Annalena has already made three recipes from it.  Two of them, in her opinion, are not really of general interest:  if anyone wants to make preserved kumquats, or candied kumquats,  please let her know and Annalena will share.  But this soup... OH, this soup.

Jerusalem artichokes are also known as "sunchokes."  They are a winter vegetable:  you don't see them until November at the soonest.  They are a root vegetable, and having nothing to do with artichokes ("Jerusalem" probably comes from the fact that they are the root of a sunflower, which is "girasole" in several languages).  They are the largest source of the food substitute "inulin," which is important for diabetics and folks with sugar diseases.  And they are delicious.

There are several recipes for these delights in these blogs. This one may be the best of all.  Ragazzi, it is so easy, and can so easily be turned from vegetarian, to vegan, that you all should have it.  You do need a food processor, but you don't need your oven.  And you can have the soup in well under  an hour.

Shall we begin?  Yes, let's.  You start by peeling and slicing one medium yellow onion (you could probably use a red one, but the soup is white, so you may want to hold with the color). Slice it as thin as you can, into rings, but don't be surgical.

You need to put this in a pot, with three tablespoons of fat.  Annalena made it with half and half butter and olive oil, but she sees no reason why you couldn't use all olive oil.  Get the oil hot, and  then add the onion.  Sprinkle some salt in, and as it softens, get a pound of sunchokes (this will be about 9-10.  If you have more, use them).  Peel them, just like you were peeling a potato, and then cut them into chunks.  Get them as even in size as you can.

Toss them around with the onion and the fat for a few minutes, and then add 3 cups of cold water.  That's right, ragazzi, water. Not chicken stock, water.  When you want your vegetables to be the star of a soup, water is what you want.  Bring this to a boil, then lower it to a simmer, and cover the pot.  Check back in five minutes, and every five minutes thereafter, until you can pierce the biggest of the sunchoke pieces to its core, with a knife.

When you're there, get a bulb of fennel.  Get rid of the fronds, and if the outer layer seems yucky, do that too (generally, this happens only in larger fennel bulbs).  Then, slice the bulb like you did the onion , and add the slices to the soup, and cook about five minutes more.

You're just about there, amici.  Get out your food processor, and process the mix in two parts.  This is important, because there's too much of it for one processing step, and also, because it's almost impossible to distribute the solids and liquids equally.  Your first batch is going to be much thicker than your second.  So, you combine them.  You stir them together, and you add another tablespoon of butter, but divide it:  put half in the first batch when you're pureeing, and then the other half, with the second batch.

Don't ask.  It seems to work.   Or leave it out if you're going vegan.

Ragazzi, Annalena swears, this soup is better than each of its parts.  It is truly excellent soup.  If you want to bulk it, make some  olive oil seared croutons, with rye bread or pumpernickel.  It's a meal in and of itself.

You MUST do it ragazzi.  Please tell Annalena you did.  At this time of year, with very little to work with, we cooks must do what we can.