Poor old Jerusalem artichokes are often avoided due to their *ahem* flatulent properties. These interestingly tubular vegetables, which are a cousin of the sunflower, are native to North America and are quite like a mushroomy potato. They’re often found in soups, but I prefer to roast them and use as a base for a banging pasta bake. And I’ve since learned from fellow blogger Stef that roasting them does alleviate their propensity to cause parpiness.
Upon seeing a bundle of the ‘chokes in last week’s Home Organics bag, I thought I’d quite like to try them as a topping for a puff-pastry tart. On Saturday afternoon, I rolled out my shop-bought pastry, gave the ‘chokes a bit of a roasting and created a savoury tart that went down very well at lunch time.
What you need for a Jerusalem Artichoke Tart for 4
6 to 8 Jerusalem Artichokes (you’ll find them at your local farmer’s market or fancy food store)
3 cloves of garlic
Olive Oil
Salt
1/2 lemon
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
1/2 red onion
1 sheet of shop-bought puff pastry, defrosted
50g of soft, spreadable goat’s cheese
1 beaten egg
Grate Parmesan
Start by pre-heating the oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas Mark 6.
Peel and finely chop your artichokes. Put them into a roasting dish. Peel and roughly chop the garlic cloves and add the roasting dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a good pinch of salt.
Roast for 30 to 35 minutes until they’re tender. Make sure to shake them halfway through so that they get evenly browned.
Meanwhile, finely chop the leaves from the sprig of rosemary and finely slice your red onion.
When your ‘chokes are ready, remove them from the oven but leave the oven on. Roll out your puff pastry sheet and put onto a greased baking sheet. Using a sharp knife, score a border into the pastry about two centimetres from the edge. That will help the pastry to puff up around your filling.
Spread the goat’s cheese all over the inside of the border. Top with the roasted ‘chokes and sprinkle over the rosemary and the red onion slices.
Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg so that it’ll take on a lovely golden colour.
Return to the hot oven and cook for another 20 minutes, until the puff pastry has risen and the toppings have taken on a golden hue.
Serve for lunch, sprinkled with a handful of grated Parmesan cheese and a crisp green salad on the side.
KITCHEN TUNE
I’m still getting a lot of listening mileage out of Twin Sister’s 2011 LP In Heaven. Here’s one of the tracks, Bad Street, which definitely made an appearance in the soundtrack of our Saturday afternoon.
Categories: Lunch
February 27, 2012 at 12:48 pm
Have only ever had the jarred variety do must look out for the fresh ones. Tart looks gorgeous! Artichokes, artichokes are good for the heart, the more you eat the more you……:-)
February 27, 2012 at 1:02 pm
There are jarred Jerusalem articles? Never seen them before.
Beautiful pics–the tart looks yummy. Tried roasting them one time and herself was not a big fan. My favorite way to use them is blended into a soup. Has such a creamy mouthfeel you’d swear it was loaded with cream.
February 27, 2012 at 12:58 pm
This tart looks amazing and even better with Twin Sister in the background. Nicely done!
February 27, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Thanks Carol Anne
February 27, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Hi Paula and Bill! I think the jarred artichokes are actually the regular globe artichoke hearts, these guys are a little different actually. And those jarred artichokes would work beautifully on this tart with the addition of some parma ham. Yumbo!
February 27, 2012 at 10:44 pm
I love Jerusalem artichokes, such a great earthy flavour. The longer you roast them the more you dissipate their unwanted side effects. Also, the more you eat them the more your body gets used to digesting them.
February 28, 2012 at 10:22 am
That’s definitely a good tip, Stef. I’ve only ever roasted them so seem to have avoided an intense experience of their unwanted side effects!
February 28, 2012 at 8:47 pm
Great use of the ‘chokes Aoife – looks delicious. I definitely agree with Stef on the roasting – it definitely helps reduce the fart factor
March 2, 2012 at 11:50 am
It was a lovely little tart all right
February 29, 2012 at 9:58 am
Hello Aoife….Your tart looks delicious!..Regretably, we can only buy the normal artichokes here. Have eaten the Jerusalem ones before, but the ordinary ones cost something like €0.90/kg, Therefore, these ones can only be bought in very specialised shops at “very specialised” prices!!..lol
March 2, 2012 at 11:51 am
Hi Maureen, thanks for your comment! Specialised prices are annoying, aren’t they?
March 1, 2012 at 8:39 pm
Oooh that looks good… but do you think it’s possible to replace the artichokes with another root vegetable? It’s just I can’t seem to find Jerusalem artichokes anywhere.
March 2, 2012 at 11:53 am
Hi Marion, thanks for saying hello! They can be a little hard to find, it’s true. I guess you could swap the ‘chokes for little roast new potatoes for a real carb-attack of a tart. But otherwise, I would swap the ‘chokes for jarred artichoke hearts and add some parma ham. No need to cook anything there either!
March 7, 2012 at 9:48 pm
I love Jersusalem artichokes and this tart looks yummmmmmly! I need to take advantage of puffed pastry and make some more tarts around this crazy farm….so easy! Thanks for sharing your recipe! x
March 8, 2012 at 10:41 am
No problem, Imen. Puff pastry makes dinner so simple and there are so many lovely things you can put on top of them! Mind you, you wouldn’t want to be having it every night, pretty fattening I think. Not that we care about that