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      Jerusalem artichoke soup with avocado and roast hazelnut salsa

      This is a lovely combination of flavours and textures. The soup is smooth and silky, the avocado almost buttery, and the hazelnuts add a gentle crunch. An excellent alternative to this artichoke soup, which will only be in season during the winter months, is a potato soup – the avocado and hazelnuts are great with that also.

      The ingredients

      The fresher the artichokes are, the less likely it is that you will have to peel them, though if they look in any way discoloured, peeling is necessary because discoloured skins will yield a discoloured and less fresh-tasting soup. Jerusalem artichokes cook quite unevenly, so test a couple of pieces of the vegetable to ascertain that it is all properly cooked. If the vegetable is not properly cooked, the soup will be slightly grainy in consistency and not the smooth and silky result we are aiming for.

      An avocado in perfect condition is a wonderful food, but an underripe one is not worth eating. You have to plan and shop ahead a little with avocados to be sure they will be in the correct condition when you want to serve them. Test them like you would a mango, that is, gently press the heel of your thumb into the flesh of an unblemished avocado and the vegetable should yield to that pressure – a subtle indent will be left by your thumb. Some people like to wrap underripe avocados in newspaper and put them in a warm place such as an airing cupboard to help them ripen, but I find it really only works with certainty for me if I have bought them in plenty of time and allowed them to ripen at room temperature in my kitchen.

      Serves 6 60g butter

      110g potatoes, peeled and diced

      220g onions, peeled and diced

      500g Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and diced

      Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

      1 litre chicken stock

      300ml creamy milk, i.e. cream and milk in equal proportions

      AVOCADO AND ROAST HAZELNUT SALSA

      1 ripe avocado, halved, stone removed, peeled and cut into neat 1cm dice

      3 tablespoons hazelnuts, roasted, skinned and coarsely chopped

      3 tablespoons hazelnut or olive oil

      1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

      Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

      Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan and allow to foam. Add the potatoes, onions and artichokes and stir to coat in the butter. Season with salt and pepper, then cover with a butter wrapper or greaseproof paper lid and a tight-fitting lid. Sweat on a very gentle heat for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are just beginning to soften. Add the chicken stock and simmer, covered, until the vegetables are soft and collapsing. Purée the soup to achieve a smooth consistency. Correct the thickness with the creamy milk. Sometimes it may not take all the milk. Taste and correct the seasoning.

      Mix together all the ingredients for the avocado and hazelnut salsa. Taste and correct the seasoning. This mixture will sit quite happily in your fridge for an hour, as the oil coating the avocado will prevent it discolouring.

      Serve in hot soup bowls, with each serving garnished with a dessertspoon of the avocado and hazelnut salsa and a drizzle of its oil.

      Wild garlic soup

      As you will have discovered in the introduction to Wild Garlic Leaf and Flower Broth, I love this wild and free food. Either of the two varieties is suitable here, and regardless of which one you choose it will be the perfect green for this recipe. It is flavoursome and full of goodness and cooks to a smooth and silky consistency. The pretty white flowers from either variety make a delicious and lovely garnish.

      Serves 6 55g butter

      110g onions, peeled and diced

      140g potatoes, peeled and diced

      Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

      1.2 litres chicken or vegetable stock

      350g wild garlic leaves, finely chopped

      Creamy milk, i.e. milk and cream mixed in equal proportion

      Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan and allow to foam. Add the onions and potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and stir to coat in the butter. Cover with a butter wrapper or greaseproof paper and the lid of the saucepan and cook on a very low heat for 10 minutes or so. This is called ‘sweating’ the vegetables. The object of the exercise is to soften them slightly, with no colour at all.

      Add the stock, bring to the boil and cover again with the saucepan lid. Simmer until the onion and potato are completely tender and starting to collapse. This will take about 15 minutes. Remove the lid of the saucepan and add the garlic leaves. Do not replace the saucepan lid. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the garlic leaves are tender. Purée immediately in a liquidiser or with a hand-held blender. Add a little more stock or creamy milk if the soup is too thick. Taste and correct the seasoning.

      Serve in hot soup bowls, garnished with a little blob of cream or a few drops of olive oil and some of the pretty garlic flowers.

      Chicken and other broths

      Vegetable soups

      Savoury tarts

      Salads and dressings

      Pan-grilling and pan-frying

      Roasting

      Casserole-roasting

      Baked fish

      Green vegetables

      Roots and alliums

      Potatoes

      Rice

      Pulses – beans, peas and lentils

      Simple soda breads

      Sweet essentials

      Fruit fools, compotes and salads

      Biscuits

      Ice creams, sorbets and granitas

      Meringues

      Warm puddings

      Cold puddings

      A few cakes

      ‘Lining a flan ring with pastry is one of the techniques that strikes fear into some cooks. But it really is worth persevering with this technique, because once mastered it opens up hundreds of possible recipes of both a sweet and savoury nature.’