Artichoke Soup

This recipe for six people calls for fresh artichokes, which you need to prepare yourself. It’s very easy if you follow my step by step instructions.

The ingredients you need are:

4 large globe artichokes
Juice of 2 lemons
75g butter
1 medium onion, finely sliced
900ml milk
6tbs double (heavy) cream
6 sprigs of chervil
Salt and black pepper

To prepare the artichokes you need a pair of scissors, a bowl containing water and the juice of one lemon, plus a second bowl to hold the leaves.

If the stems of the artichokes are still in place, snap them off. Do this by holding the globe of the artichoke very firmly on the edge of your work surface with the stalk point towards you. Now grasp the stem with your free hand and snap it quickly downwards.

Using scissors, cut away about two thirds of each leaf and discard the trimmings. Now slide a sharp knife under each leaf, starting at the bottom of the artichoke, and cut it away from the soft base. Reserve these leaves in your empty bowl.

You will reach a layer of leaves that look like paper. Simply discard these and the hair-like choke, which you can scrape from the bases with a teaspoon or something similar.

Trim any leaf residue from the artichoke bottoms and drop them into the water and lemon juice to prevent them discoloring. Do this at once.

That’s the hard part done and finished with. To cook, bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the juice of the second lemon and drop the artichokes into it. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. They should feel tender when pierced with a thin wooden skewer.

Drain and allow to cool.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, stir in the sliced onion, cover and cook gently for 4 minutes. Stir in the artichoke leaves, cover and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Now add the milk and bring everything to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for a further 10 minutes. Purée using a blender or food processor and then push the mix through a sieve. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Return the strained soup to a cleaned pan and re-heat. Chop the artichoke bottoms coarsely and divide them between the soup plates. Add a spoonful of cream to each, ladle over the hot soup and decorate with the sprigs of chervil.

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