Sweet Roasted Fennel & Leek Soup With Jerusalem Artichokes
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Serves 4
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 leeks, white part only (save the greens to make a vegetable stock)
- 2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and cored removed
- 500g/1.1lbs Jerusalem artichokes, scrubbed well
- 3 cups/750ml/26.flozs. vegetable, chicken or beef stock
- 1/4 cup/60ml/2flozs. brandy
- Thyme and chives
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 180C/350F and line a large baking tray with parchment. Split the leeks down the centre from top to bottom and place the cored fennel halves and Jerusalem artichokes on the tray. Drizzle with oil and season with salt and roast for 1 hour or until caramelised.
Step 2 - Place the leek and fennel in a pot with the stock (reserve the Jerusalem artichokes) and brandy and simmer for 15 minutes. Using a stick or immersion blender, blitz until you get a puree (you can puree this as smooth or chunky as you like).
Step 3 - Serve with chopped chives, roasted Jerusalem artichokes, a slice of cheese topped bread and a sprig of thyme.
Personal Note
Speaking of not being sure if I should share something, on my Instagram stories I recently shared a story about a recent purchase. It wasn't a sponsored or gifted product, we bought it ourselves. But it has changed our health for the better.
We live in a bottom floor apartment that gets a lot of sun on one side but less on the other and it's the sunless side that often gets black mould on the walls. Black mould is a common problem and it can be very bad for your health if you have asthma, allergies or a weakened immune system. Teddy's dog sitter went to hospital with an infection because she lived in a place with black mould.
It's hard to get out and it requires gutting walls which is difficult in an apartment block so we bought a dehumidifier. It arrived and at first I wasn't particularly happy with it. Reviews said that it was quiet but it was very noisy and we had to move it to a room and close the door.
I'm not asthmatic but I do have some breathing issues and am very sensitive to smells, dust and mould. After using it for a few days I had noticed that my breathing was better. I also haven't gotten sick once during winter and I often do. This may have to do with the fact that I have been limited in my movements due to COVID-19 but hey I'm just happy to be healthy!
And I wasn't sure if I should share it but I shared a video of the amount of water the dehumidifier caught after 6 hours. It was over a litre of water and this is what it collects every single day. In fact I got so many messages about it, I spent hours answering everyone's questions. So hopefully it helps someone else out there who had noticed some similar problems!
So tell me Dear Reader, have you noticed getting less or more sick over the last few months? Have you got a black mould problem and have you tried a dehumidifier?