Preparing artichokes is a major pain. You have to deal with tough leaves and the inside fibrous flower before you get a nice clean tender artichoke heart. Making soup in general from scratch is super easy, but requires patience – boiling, blending, straining, etc. Home-made soup is very healthy. You don’t have to deal with copious amounts of sodium and additives from store-bought brands. That’s one of the main reasons I make soup at home.
If you don’t want to go through the trouble of peeling and preparing artichokes, canned hearts will do. Make sure you wash them well to remove as much of the preservative as possible. Look at the notes section below for tips on buying and preparing fresh artichokes.
Artichoke and Tomato soup
Ingredients:
- artichokes - 2 hearts
- tomatoes - 3
- onion - 1, medium sized or 1/2 a large one
- ginger - 1/2 tsp, grated
- pepper - 1/2 tsp, ground
- salt - to taste
Instructions:
- Remove the artichoke hearts (link tutorial in the notes section).
- In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat 1 tsp of oil, add the grated ginger and onions and saute for a few minutes till tender and caramelized.
- Add the artichoke hearts, tomatoes, salt and a cup of water. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes till tender.
- Once it's done, turn off the heat and let it cool. After it has cooled down enough to handle, put everything in a blender and blend well.
- Strain the mixture back into the pan. Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and add some freshly ground pepper.
- Serve with some crusty bread on the side!
Notes -
- How to choose artichokes - http://www.livestrong.com/article/240-smart-shopping-artichokes/
- How to remove artichoke hearts - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV7iU0NoYSs&feature=related
- How to…eat an artichoke (I like this one!!) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLWjq8rvgTk&feature=related
i love it
Not to forget a certain cousin V who was forced to eat mentioned stone cake and 2 pairs of watchful eyes
I am dying to try the recipe out – possibly today!