Globe Artichoke Soup

The following recipe for globe artichoke soup is delicious. The recipe provides enough to serve 4 and the soup is wonderfully rich, smooth, and creamy.

Ingredients

Hearts from 3-5 globe artichokes depending on size

Olive oil for frying

2 medium sized onions, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 medium sized potato, peeled and diced

4 cups of vegetable stock

A bay leaf, thyme and parsley

Black pepper and salt to taste

1/4 of a cup of milk

Method

Firstly, prepare your artichokes. Squeeze half a lemon into a large bowl of water. You will be dropping trimmed globe artichokes into this bowl to stop them from oxidising and turning brown. 

Start by snapping off the artichoke leaves until you get to the fresher leaves which just pull off.

Take care when you get to the pinkish centre of the artichoke leaves, as they have sharp spines. Pull them out.

Take a knife and dig out the fuzzy choke. You will want to slice off the narrowest layer of the heart to get out all of the choke but do not cut away too much of the delicious heart.

Once the choke is out, slice off all but the last inch or so of the stem. Trim the hard green exterior of the rest of the heart. Cut away from you as you rotate the artichoke, slicing off just the hard green part and leaving the light green underneath. 

To finish, slice the outside layer off the stem. Drop the heart into the bowl of water and go on to the next one. 

Once all the artichokes are ready, cut them lengthwise, slice and chop.

In a large pot, add the olive oil and cook the artichoke hearts, chopped onions and chopped garlic on a medium heat until tender but not brown. Add the potatoes, stock and milk. 

Add the bay leaf, thyme, parley and salt and pepper to taste to the pot. Increase heat to boil and then let simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

Once slightly cooled, remove and discard the bay leaf and any herb stalks. Blend the soup, adding more salt and pepper if needed to taste. 

Serve with a crusty roll.

Enjoy

Cypriot roast potatoes

An alternative to simple roast potatoes which hopefully you will enjoy.

Ingredients:

Enough potatoes to serve 4
2 onions - peeled and sliced
10-15 cherry tomatoes
5 garlic cloves
olive oil and the juice of 1 lemon
3 tsp of crushed coriander seeds
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Peel and cut the potatoes into wedges and place in a roasting tin with the tomatoes and peeled garlic cloves. Mix and sprinkle coriander seeds into the pan and add salt and pepper and re-mix. Pour over the lemon juice and enough olive oil to fully coat the potatoes. Should cook for about an hour at 200c but after half-an-hour take out and re-mix.

Lovely if served with chicken pieces which can be added to the mix.