A relatively easy, but fancy little soup of Jerusalem artichoke and chestnuts with a goat cheese foam, with a little espelette pepper sprinkled on. You'll be sure to impress everyone with this star soup! It's a perfect appetizer to make for an intimate dinner party or a large group of people: it's sophisticated, unique, yet comforting and easy to make! It does use some (semi-)unusual ingredients so you might have to make sure you find everything at your supermarket.The only downside is that for best results you do need something to make your milk and goat cheese mixture foamy (like in a real cappuccino). I used an espuma/siphon bottle. But not to worry! I've read you can reach the same results by just blending it with a(n) (immersion/stick) blender. And if you don't have that, you can always just mix in the milk mixture, without foaming it first, though I wouldn't call it a cappuccino then. ;)
I made this soup as one of many appetizers for my mother's birthday (among which the mozzarella appetizer I posted earlier) and my whole family was a big fan! It would probably look really well served in clear glasses as well, so you can see the different layers. But I wanted to accentuate the cappuccino angle.
As previously I'll put up a short and long version of the recipe, but it really is quite easy, so there won't be that much difference between them I think.
6-8 small portions - 40 minutes
Ingredients
- Jerusalem artichokes (500 g / 17.5 oz)
- Chestnut Purée (200 g/ 7 oz)
- 1 Onion
- Vegetable stock (70 cl / 3 cups)
- Cream (45 cl/ 2 cups)
- Milk (45 cl/ 1.9 cups)
- Goat Cheese (100 g/ 3.5 oz)
- Nutmeg
- Piment d'Espelette
- Chestnut Purée (200 g/ 7 oz)
- 1 Onion
- Vegetable stock (70 cl / 3 cups)
- Cream (45 cl/ 2 cups)
- Milk (45 cl/ 1.9 cups)
- Goat Cheese (100 g/ 3.5 oz)
- Nutmeg
- Piment d'Espelette
Short instructions
- Peel the artichokes and cut into smaller pieces and cook with the onion in some butter. Add the chestnut puree and add stock.
- Bring to a boil and let it simmer for 20 minutes on a medium fire.
- Add nutmeg, salt and pepper and blend until fine.
- Add 25 cl / 1 cup of milk and 25 cl/ 1 cup of cream and prevent further boiling.
- Boil 20 cl / 1 cup of milk, add in goat cheese and salt/pepper. Stir until cheese had melted. Add in 20 cl / 1 cup of cream. Make it foamy with blender or put into siphon.
- Serve: Fill cup 3/4 with soup, add foam, sprinkle with piment.
- Goat Cheese: Use good quality, fresh goat cheese without a tough 'border/edge' so it dissolves without lumps.
- Vegetable stock: If you have some use homemade, but otherwise a cube works just as well.
- Cream: I think I used heavy cream, but any will do.
- Milk: I used half full / 2% / reduced fat, since you're also using cream.
- Piment d'Espelette / Espelette Pepper: A type of chili pepper mostly grown in France. It is less spicy than cayenne pepper (4000 vs 30000 on the Schofield scale), but if you don't have it and don't want to buy it, you can use cayenne/chili pepper instead, just be a bit more careful. Though this recipe contains lots of milk and cream so can withstand a bit of spiciness.
- Bring to a boil and let it simmer for 20 minutes on a medium fire.
- Add nutmeg, salt and pepper and blend until fine.
- Add 25 cl / 1 cup of milk and 25 cl/ 1 cup of cream and prevent further boiling.
- Boil 20 cl / 1 cup of milk, add in goat cheese and salt/pepper. Stir until cheese had melted. Add in 20 cl / 1 cup of cream. Make it foamy with blender or put into siphon.
- Serve: Fill cup 3/4 with soup, add foam, sprinkle with piment.
Extended Recipe
Ingredients
- Jerusalem Artichokes / Earth apples / Sun-chokes: A delicious nutty vegetable. Try to get the less 'knobbly' ones, so you don't waste too much while peeling. Might be hard to find in summer.
- Chestnut Purée: Very easy to find around the holidays in a can or pot, but should be in stores year round. Make sure it is unsweetened! Just chestnut puree without anything added is best. If you have it homemade use that of course, but I sure didn't. You can also use peeled chestnuts (canned or vacuum-packed), and just add them whole and blend with the rest. Or you can use fresh walnuts, roast or boil and peel them before using, but that is a LOT of work and you can't miss any of the inner furry skin (tan) or it'll give a bitter taste.- Goat Cheese: Use good quality, fresh goat cheese without a tough 'border/edge' so it dissolves without lumps.
- Vegetable stock: If you have some use homemade, but otherwise a cube works just as well.
- Cream: I think I used heavy cream, but any will do.
- Milk: I used half full / 2% / reduced fat, since you're also using cream.
- Piment d'Espelette / Espelette Pepper: A type of chili pepper mostly grown in France. It is less spicy than cayenne pepper (4000 vs 30000 on the Schofield scale), but if you don't have it and don't want to buy it, you can use cayenne/chili pepper instead, just be a bit more careful. Though this recipe contains lots of milk and cream so can withstand a bit of spiciness.
- 1 Onion
- Nutmeg, Salt, Pepper
- Nutmeg, Salt, Pepper
Detailed Instructions
- Peel the Jerusalem artichokes. Make sure none of the brown remains. You might have to cut away a bit, especially if you got very 'knobbly' ones. Cut into smaller chunks (walnut sized).
- Dice the onion. Doesn't have to be very fine, since we're blending later.
- Cook the onion in some butter. Add in artichoke when the onion is glassy. Cook together for a few minutes.
- Add in chestnut puree and vegetable stock and stir so the puree dissolves a bit and doesn't burn by sticking to the underside.
- Bring to a boil and let simmer for around 20 minutes on a medium fire.
- Add nutmeg, salt and pepper and blend well. Add more spices if needed after tasting (!).
- Depending on how thick you want your soup to be, let simmer for a little while longer. I wanted a rather thick soup so I let it simmer for about 10 minutes until quite thick.
- Add in 25 cl / 1 cup of milk and 25 cl/ 1 cup of cream and blend well. Don't let boil any more (or cream might separate).
- In another (small) pot: boil 20 cl / 1 cup of milk. Add fresh, goat cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add in 20 cl / 25 cl of cream.
- Foam your milk / cheese mixture with a stick/immersion blender or put it into an espuma/foam siphon bottle.
- Serving: Fill cup 3/4 of the way with your soup. Add in top layer of foam. Sprinkle with piment or cayenne pepper. Enjoy!
- Dice the onion. Doesn't have to be very fine, since we're blending later.
- Cook the onion in some butter. Add in artichoke when the onion is glassy. Cook together for a few minutes.
- Add in chestnut puree and vegetable stock and stir so the puree dissolves a bit and doesn't burn by sticking to the underside.
- Bring to a boil and let simmer for around 20 minutes on a medium fire.
- Add nutmeg, salt and pepper and blend well. Add more spices if needed after tasting (!).
- Depending on how thick you want your soup to be, let simmer for a little while longer. I wanted a rather thick soup so I let it simmer for about 10 minutes until quite thick.
- Add in 25 cl / 1 cup of milk and 25 cl/ 1 cup of cream and blend well. Don't let boil any more (or cream might separate).
- In another (small) pot: boil 20 cl / 1 cup of milk. Add fresh, goat cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add in 20 cl / 25 cl of cream.
- Foam your milk / cheese mixture with a stick/immersion blender or put it into an espuma/foam siphon bottle.
- Serving: Fill cup 3/4 of the way with your soup. Add in top layer of foam. Sprinkle with piment or cayenne pepper. Enjoy!
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