jerusalem artichoke soup with hazelnut pesto and serrano ham and blue cheese toasts

jerusalem artichoke soup with hazelnut pesto
and serrano ham and blue cheese toasts
If you have only ever topped your soup with a just few croutons, a swirl of cream and a dusting of herbs, then perhaps you might consider a nut topping. If you have only used a nut pesto with pasta or on crostini or bruschetta, again I would suggest you might like to think again, because I think I have just the soup for you and just the nut topping!

I recently made a hazelnut and sundried tomato pesto and used it to top a simple jerusalem artichoke soup. I think the nuttiness of the hazelnuts with the slight sweetness of the sundried tomatoes worked beautifully with the inherent sweet nuttiness of jerusalem artichokes and helped to liven up what could be, if you didn't know any better, a rather beige and bland looking soup.

I had the dog end of a loaf of sourdough bread, which I toasted and topped with a few ripped up pieces of serrano ham and my favourite Stilton cheese, blasted under the grill for 30 seconds or so to give the cheese time to melt.

It was hearty and comforting early spring lunch. Food for thought perhaps?

3 comments:

Unknown said...

oooh, the pesto looks stunning, what a great idea to add it to the soup x

Marmaduke Scarlet said...

Cheers me dear! It was one of those times when the ingredients seemed to be calling to me . . . "hey over here, don't forget me"! (I think I might have too much time on my hands recently, I am starting to hear things!)

o cozinheiro este algarve said...

Just love Jerusalem artichoke soup and gratin also.If I was lucky enough to source them over here this is what I would try for sure-it sounds great.Love pesto and croutons in soups.