Sunchoke purée with sautéed mushrooms

This sunchoke purée and mushroom ragu might be a good one to impress friends, but it also makes for great comfort food when it’s cold outside. Sunchokes – also called Jerusalem artichokes or “topinambours” for my French friends – are highly underrated in the vegetable world. Although the plant itself resembles a type of sunflower, the root or “tuber” is the part we eat and it has a delicate artichoke taste and when blended in a silky purée like this one, are absolutely decadent. In France, it is often served during fall and the holiday season either in as a creamy soup or as a nice mash alongside noble ingredients such as scallops or game. But I also like to use it as a base for sautéed mushrooms, which can make for a hearty side or light vegetarian dinner. I use a mix of shitake and porcini mushrooms because my family loves their taste and aroma, but feel free to use any variety you like. 

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Ingredients

• 1 kg of sunchokes
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp of grassfed butter or ghee
• 1 1/2  cup of milk – depending on the consistency you are looking for
• 1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, smashed and minced
• 1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in hot water for an hour then drained
• 1 cup shitake mushrooms, sliced in 2 (or 2 cups of sliced button mushrooms)
• 1 tbsp cognac (optional)
• 1/3 cup parsely, chopped
• Salt, pepper

Instrutions

1. Cook the sunchokes in salted boiling water until very tender
2. Drain sunchokes and put them in cold water with lemon juice to keep them from turning dark
3. In a blender, blend the sunchokes with 1/4 cup butter, adding milk gradually until you get the consistency you want for the puree. It should be slightly creamier than mashed potatoes.
4. Add salt and pepper. Set aside while you make the mushrooms.
5. Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add a tbsp of butter and minced garlic, tossing for just under a minute.
6. Add all the button mushrooms and shitake and sauté until water evaporates, around 5 minutes. Add cognac and porcini mushrooms and continue tossing for a couple of minutes.
7. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in the parsley and serve over the purée.