Jerusalem artichokes with yogurt, onions, garlic and seeds

Jerusalem artichokes with yogurt, onions, garlic and seeds

Winter

Jerusalem artichokes are still an oddity to many. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if you’d never tried one before. They grow underground and look a bit like knobbly potatoes, but they certainly don’t taste like them. Artichokes have a very distinctive flavour – nutty, sweet and earthy are all adjectives that spring to my mind. If you’re familiar with Jerusalem artichokes, you might like to try cooking them on the barbecue like this. They really are sensational, particularly with the soft onions, garlic and yogurt.

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • about 1kg (2lb 4oz) Jerusalem artichokes, scrubbed
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 onions, halved and thinly sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
  • 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
  • 350ml (12fl oz) full-fat Greek yogurt
  • a handful of flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Set a grill over some hot embers. Arrange the scrubbed artichokes over the grill and cook them, turning regularly, for 40 minutes or so. If they begin to blacken too much, you’ll need to adjust the heat. Once they’re soft and blistered, take them off the heat or move them to one side.

Get a large frying pan nice and hot and add half the extra-virgin olive oil. When it’s hot, add the onions and garlic and some salt and pepper. Fry the onions until they are beginning to soften and caramelize. Add all the seeds and continue to cook everything for a further 3–4 minutes, until the seeds are toasted.

Take the pan off the heat and, when the onions have cooled a bit, stir a third of them through the yogurt, then stir through the parsley. Halve the larger artichokes and turn them through the remaining onions in the pan, along with the vinegar and plenty of salt and pepper.

Spread the yogurt over a serving plate. Scatter over the artichokes and onions. Give the dish a final trickle of oil and season lightly before serving.

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