Jerusalem artichoke and chestnut mushroom salad with dill, lemon and olive oil

Jerusalem artichoke and chestnut mushroom salad with dill, lemon and olive oil

Winter

Jerusalem artichokes grow under the cool, dark earth; mushrooms don’t need any light to grow at all. It’s interesting, then, that when it comes to their flavours, both seem so bright. In this refined, delicate salad I’m serving them raw. The results are truly amazing – and yet the companions are so different. Just like day and night, I suppose, or vinegar and oil; something magical happens when they meet.

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 150–200g (5½–7oz) roundish Jerusalem artichokes
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • A few bright-green dill sprigs, finely chopped
  • 4–6 firm chestnut mushrooms, de-stalked and thinly sliced
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Peel the artichokes (you can save the peelings for deep-frying as a crispy garnish for salads and soups; see page 264), then place them on a board and slice them as thinly as you can. Place the slivers in a bowl.

Trickle over half the lemon juice and half the olive oil. Add half the chopped dill and season with salt and pepper. Tumble the artichokes through this simple dressing.

Turn the mushroom slices through the artichokes, coating them lightly in the dressing.

Divide the salad between two shallow plates. Finish each plate with a final trickle of the remaining lemon juice and olive oil and sprinkle over the remaining chopped dill. Season again to taste and bring to the table.

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