Recipe - Lemon Parsley Pasta with Sunchokes

Sunchokes! They're so crunchy even after being steamed - it's amazing. This tuber is not all too common known as it has a reputation for causing a bit of...flatulence, to put it lightly. However, it doesn't affect everyone! If you want to experiment first, try eating it at home to save yourself any unexpected embarrassment. Aside from its funny little side effect, the sunchoke (also known as Jerusalem artichoke) is chock-full of vitamins and minerals that are good additions to your diet. Because of their crisp nature, they are fun to add for texture to dishes and the flavor is a mix between artichoke and perhaps a bit of jicama. I tossed it gently with some lemon parsley pasta purchased from Seattle but you can use it with other pastas as well. It just won't be as sour!

Step 1: Ingredients (yields 3-4 servings)

• 8 oz lemon parsley malfadine (or pasta of choice)
• 1.5 lbs sunchokes, thinly sliced with skin on
• 2 Tbsps unsalted butter
• 1 lemon (or 2 if pasta changes to an unflavored one), juice only
• salt and pepper
• smoked olive oil
• 1/4 cup Italian parsley, finely minced

Step 2: Prepping ingredients
Clean the sunchokes well by scrubbing out all possible dirt. Slice thinly, retaining the skin. Steam these for 15-20 minutes until slightly brown around the edges; they'll still be crunchy. In a separate pot, boil pasta and drain. Let sunchokes cool.

Step 3: Finishing
Saute somewhat cooled sunchokes in butter until they are crisp and browned. Toss your pasta with the sunchokes, stirring to keep from burning. Add in lemon juice; add salt and pepper to taste. Finish the dish off with a drizzle of smoked olive oil and scatter the minced parsley. Enjoy!


Photography by Duc Duong.