Skordalia with roasted Jerusalem artichokes
Greek comfort food heaven of a garlic mashed potato dip served here with roasted Jerusalem artichokes, a poached egg, and an unusual garlic and black pepper caramel.
Ingredients
For the skordalia
- 400g/14oz potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
- 8 garlic cloves, peeled
- 300ml/10fl oz double cream
- 150ml/5fl oz olive oil
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 3–4 tbsp white wine vinegar
- salt and white pepper
For the roasted Jerusalem artichokes
- 6 Jerusalem artichokes, scrubbed and quartered
- 8 garlic cloves
- glug olive oil
- 2 sticks rosemary
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley, to garnish
For the garlic and black pepper caramel
- 8 garlic cloves, peeled
- 150²µ/5½´Ç³ú caster sugar
- ½ tsp cracked black pepper
- splash sherry vinegar
To serve
- 1 poached egg, to garnish
Method
To make the skordalia, boil the potatoes in a large pan of water with the garlic cloves until soft. Drain the potatoes and push them through a ricer.
Heat the cream and olive oil in a small pan and stir this mixture into the mash with the lemon juice and white wine vinegar, to taste. Season with salt and white pepper. Keep warm.
To make the roasted Jerusalem artichokes, preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Toss the quartered artichokes in a pan with the garlic, a glug of olive oil and the rosemary. Roast for 25–30 minutes, or until golden-brown and soft. Keep warm. Top with some parsley when you are ready to serve.
Meanwhile, to make the garlic and black pepper caramel, bring a small saucepan of water to the boil, add the garlic and blanch for about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and transfer to cold water. Repeat this twice so that the garlic has been blanched 3 times in total.
Place the sugar in a saucepan over a medium heat. After about 4–6 minutes the sugar will melt and turn into liquid, all around the edges. Do not stir it. Once it melts around the edge, shake the pan and leave it until about a quarter of the sugar has melted. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar crystals have disappeared. Cook until the mixture resembles dark honey. Add the garlic to the caramel along with the black pepper and a big splash of sherry vinegar. Add a little water to loosen if necessary.
To serve, spoon some skordalia onto a serving dish, top with the roasted artichokes and garlic, dress with the garlic and black pepper caramel and top with a poached egg.
