Seasonal local food recipe No 86: Roast Jerusalem artichoke, hazelnut and goat’s cheese salad
In another attempt to find another tasty use for those artichokes, this recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Every Day might fit the bill – and you don’t even need to peel them. He says, ‘The earthy flavour of roasted artichokes is delicious with toasted hazelnuts. They have a tendency to collapse into fluffiness when roasted, but keeping the skin on stops them breaking up too much.’
Serves 4-6
Preparation and cooking: 50 minutes
Ingredients
75g hazelnuts
600g jerusalem artichokes
4 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
2 sprigs of thyme
1-2 bay leaves
1 tsp hazelnut oil (optional)
½ lemon
a couple of handfuls of winter salad leaves (optional)
75g hard goat’s cheese, crumbled or shaved into strips with a vegetable peeler
salt and pepper
Method
First, toast the hazelnuts. Spread them out on a baking sheet in a single layer and place in an oven preheated to 180C/gas 4 for about 5 minutes, until lightly coloured and the skins blistered and cracked. Wrap in a clean tea towel for a minute and then rub vigorously with the towel until the skins fall off. Cool the chop very roughly or leave whole.
Turn up the oven to 190C/gas 5 and put a large roasting tin in to heat up. Scrub the artichokes well and cut into halves or quarters lengthways, depending on size – you need chunks about 1.5cm thick. Put them in a bowl and turn over in 3 tbsp of the oil with the thyme, bay and a little salt. Tip into the hot roasting tin and roast for about 35 minutes, until tender and lightly golden, turning them after about 15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.
Whisk the remaining tbsp of oil with the hazelnut oil (if using), trickle it over the warm artichokes, squeeze on a good spritz of lemon juice and season with salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Turn them over gently with your hands to combine everything well. Add the hazelnuts and the salad leaves (if using), toss gently then divide between serving plates. Scatter over the crumbled or shaved goat’s cheese and serve.
