Chef Thomas
Baked Onions with Cream and Thyme
Whole onions surrendered to a low oven with cream and thyme until they collapse into something golden, sweet and yielding, the kind of side dish that quietly upstages everything else on the table.
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Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes with Lemon and Bay
Created by Chef Thomas
Jerusalem artichokes roasted with bay leaves and lemon until they turn nutty and golden and sticky at the edges, the kind of winter side dish that quietly becomes the best thing on the table.
Side Dishes
British
Dinner Party
Comfort Food
15 min
Active Time
40 min cook•55 min total
Yield4 servings as a side
January. The garden is bare and the market stalls have shrunk to roots, brassicas, and whatever the cold ground still gives up. This is when Jerusalem artichokes appear, knobbly and unpromising, caked in mud, looking like something the earth forgot to finish. Don't be put off. Under thatawkward skin is one of the sweetest, nuttiest vegetables of the winter, and it asks almost nothing of you.
I roast them. That's it. A hot oven, some olive oil, a few bay leaves, and half a lemon sliced thin so it softens alongside them and goes sticky and caramelised at the edges. The artichokes need nothing more than heat and time. They come out golden where they've met the tin, with a centre that's gone to a yielding, almost creamy sweetness. The bay gives a quiet, resinous warmth that sits behind everything without announcing itself. A squeeze of lemon at the end, a knob of butter melting across the top. Right food, right evening.
This is a dish I come back to every winter. I wrote it down in the notebook years ago: artichokes, bay, lemon, Tuesday. That was enough. It's the kind of side that sits next to a roast chicken or a piece of fish and quietly becomes the thing everyone reaches for twice. There are few better feelings than putting a warm plate in front of someone and watching them discover a vegetable they'd walked past a hundred times.
A recipe is a conversation, not a contract. If your artichokes are small, keep them in halves. If your oven runs hot, check them earlier. If you want to add a few thyme sprigs or a scattering of hazelnuts at the end, your kitchen, your rules. The principle is simple: good ingredients, proper heat, attention. We're only making dinner.
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Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Jerusalem artichokes
Quantity
600g
scrubbed and halved or quartered
good olive oil
Quantity
3 tablespoons
fresh bay leaves
Quantity
4-5
lemon
Quantity
1
half sliced into thin rounds, half reserved for juice
garlic cloves
Quantity
4
unpeeled, lightly crushed
fine sea salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
unsalted butter
Quantity
a knob
flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Quantity
small handful
roughly chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Jerusalem artichokesscrubbed and halved or quartered | 600g |
| good olive oil | 3 tablespoons |
| fresh bay leaves | 4-5 |
| lemonhalf sliced into thin rounds, half reserved for juice | 1 |
| garlic clovesunpeeled, lightly crushed | 4 |
| fine sea salt | to taste |
| black pepper | to taste |
| unsalted butter | a knob |
| flat-leaf parsley (optional)roughly chopped | small handful |
Equipment Needed
- •Large, heavy roasting tin with low sides
- •Sharp kitchen knife
- •Scrubbing brush
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the artichokes
Get the oven hot. 200C/180C fan. Give the artichokes a good scrub under cold water but don't bother peeling them. The skins crisp up in the oven and taste better than anything you'd be throwing away. Cut them so the pieces are roughly the same size, halving the small ones and quartering anything larger than a golf ball. You want flat, cut sides that can sit against the hot roasting tin. That's where the colour happens.
Jerusalem artichokes are knobbly and awkward. Don't chase perfection with a peeler. A scrubbing brush and a sharp knife are all you need. Any particularly gnarly bits can be trimmed away, but most of the skin stays. - 2
Toss and season
Tumble the artichokes into a roasting tin, something with space so they aren't crowded. Tuck the bay leaves and lemon slices amongst them, scatter the crushed garlic cloves in, and pour the olive oil over everything. Use your hands to turn it all through, making sure the cut sides of the artichokes are coated and facing down. Season generously with salt and pepper. More salt than you think. These are dense, starchy things and they drink seasoning.
- 3
Roast until golden
Slide the tin into the oven and leave it alone for twenty minutes. Then check. The undersides should be starting to turn golden and sticky where they've met the hot metal. Turn each piece over, moving the bay and lemon around so nothing catches too badly. The bay leaves will have gone dark and fragrant, and the lemon slices will be softening at the edges. Give it another fifteen to twenty minutes. You're looking for artichokes that are deeply golden, with caramelised edges and a centre that yields completely when you press a knife through. They should smell nutty, sweet, and faintly of the bay.
Trust your nose. When the kitchen starts to smell warm and nutty, with that resinous note from the bay, you're close. Open the oven and look for colour. If they're pale, give them longer. If they're dark at the edges and soft in the middle, they're done. - 4
Finish with butter and lemon
Pull the tin from the oven. Drop in a knob of butter and let it melt over the hot artichokes, turning them gently so it coats everything. Squeeze the reserved lemon half over the top, not all of it, just enough to sharpen things. The butter rounds out the nuttiness; the lemon lifts it. Taste a piece. Adjust the salt. Scatter the parsley over if you've got it, but don't worry if you haven't. The dish is complete without it. Serve straight from the tin.
Chef Tips
- •Buy Jerusalem artichokes that are as smooth and even as you can find. The knobblier they are, the more you'll waste trying to clean them. Look for ones with a slight pinkish tinge to the skin, firm and heavy for their size.
- •Don't crowd the roasting tin. If the artichokes are piled on top of each other, they'll steam rather than roast. You want each piece touching hot metal. Use two tins if you need to. Colour is everything here.
- •The bay must be fresh, not dried. Dried bay is dusty and medicinal. Fresh bay has a sweet, almost floral quality that softens in the heat and perfumes the whole dish without overwhelming it. If you can't get fresh bay, leave it out and let the artichokes speak for themselves.
- •These are good warm or at room temperature. If you're serving them at a dinner party, roast them just before your guests arrive and leave them in the tin. They hold their heat well and taste just as good once they've settled for ten minutes.
Advance Preparation
- •Jerusalem artichokes discolour once cut. If you want to prepare them ahead, drop them into a bowl of water with a squeeze of lemon until you're ready to roast. Drain and pat dry before tossing in oil.
- •The artichokes can be roasted up to two hours ahead and reheated in a hot oven for five minutes. Add the butter and lemon juice just before serving so they taste fresh.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 150g)
Calories
235 calories
Total Fat
13 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
9 g
Cholesterol
8 mg
Sodium
450 mg
Total Carbohydrates
28 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
15 g
Protein
3 g
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