jerusalem artichoke w/ kale & bacon

When jerusalem artichokes are in season, there really isn’t much better. They are such a versatile vegetable, and this recipe showcases them in 3 different ways. I love to counter the rich, creamy, earthy artichoke flavour with some nice green kale, salty bacon and some roasted garlic. The inspiration comes from a dish that the king of comfort cooking, Gill Meller, published on his website, but I have adapted it a fair amount to make it my own.

This dish does not take all that long to make, but there are quite a few things going on at once. Just make sure to read the whole recipe first, so you can plan the order of things.

This warm salad is perfect on its own as a winter lunch but also goes really well as a side dish for dinner. I hope you love it as much as I do.

 

for the salad (for 2 people)

500g jerusalem artichokes

100g curly kale

100g smoked streaky bacon

30ml single cream

4 garlic cloves

2 bay leaves

4 sprigs of thyme

a splash of lemon juice

vegetable oil for frying

salt and pepper

olive oil

method

  1. Start by peeling the jerusalem artichokes, making sure to save the peels, and preheating your oven to 160c.

  2. Chop the artichokes into pieces of around an inch square. Place on a baking sheet with the bay leaves, thyme sprigs, and unpeeled garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss it all together, then roast for around 45 minutes until soft and beginning to become a little sticky (you may need to toss it all around halfway through the cook).

  3. Meanwhile, place the peels on some kitchen paper and dab them dry.

  4. Chop the bacon up into small pieces and cook in a dry frying pan until crispy.

  5. Remove the bacon to let it cool and add the vegetable oil to the frying pan, making sure to cover the whole pan to about 2cm deep.

  6. When the oil is hot (around 180c) drop the artichoke skins into the oil and fry until they start to brown (around 2 mins). Remove the skins from the oil and let cool on some kitchen roll. Sprinkle with sea salt and set aside.

  7. Once the artichokes are cooked, remove them (and the garlic cloves) from the baking tray, discard the thyme and bay leaves, and set them to the side.

  8. Roughly tear the kale leaves and put these on the, now empty, baking tray. Drizzle some olive oil over the top and season with salt and pepper. Bake the kale for 5-10 minutes until the leaves are nice and crispy.

  9. Whilst the kale is crisping up, take a third of your jerusalem artichokes and blend with the single cream until you get a puree that is spoonable. Give it a taste and season as you wish.

  10. Remove the kale from the oven and splash a little lemon juice over the top.

  11. Now, it’s time to assemble. Start with a spoonful of your puree, then top with the roasted artichoke pieces. Next, add a scattering of the crispy kale and bacon bits, then drop some of the skin crisps on top. Add a garlic clove or two (ready to be squeezed over the top) and drizzle with some olive oil.

  12. Enjoy whilst everything is still warm and crispy.