Jerusalem artichoke soup

This is the world's simplest soup to make, just beautiful nutty jerusalem artichokes cooked and blitzed in a tasty stock.  I used to think that life was too short to make stock at home but I now make almost all that I use.  I tend to buy only whole chickens and then joint them, saving the carcass and bones in the freezer for making stock.  The aromatics can be varied to your tastes, I usually add ginger, garlic and star anise if I'm intending to use the stock for an asian style broth.  A key is always not to salt until you use the stock as you then have a base that you can freeze and reduce without it becoming overbearingly salty.  If of course you hold with my former view you can easily use a stock cube, or when it's a big part of a recipe (as it is here) store bought fresh stock.

Ingredients

500g Jerusalem artichokes
2 onions, halved (skin on)
2 large carrots, halved (skin on)
4 sticks of celery
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 chicken carcass, raw or cooked (omit if making vegetable stock)
Small bunch of parsley stalks (optional)

Method

1)  Add all of the ingredients bar the jerusalem artichokes to a large pan.  Cover with cold water and bring to the boil.  Once just simmering skim any scum from the surface and simmer gently for 4 hours if making chicken stock, 1 hour if making the vegetarian option.  I cook on a range so I often leave stock on a very low heat in the oven for up to 24 hours.

2)  Strain the stock through a sieve and add 500ml to a saucepan, bring back to the boil.  You will have excess stock, freeze this for later use.

3)  Peel the jerusalem artichokes and cut into quarters, add to the stock and boil until completely soft, this should take around 30 minutes.

4)  Using a stick blender blitz until completely smooth and then add salt to taste (you will need more than you may imagine as the stock is entirely unsalted).

5)  I served this with a hard ewe's milk cheese on toast to bring out the sweet nutty flavour of the soup.

Use this stock to make gravies, soups and casseroles, it's always great to have some in the freezer and the ingredients are very flexible, so use any veg that you have in the 'fridge!