Chilled Artichoke Soup

Submitted by FlemishMinx

"This soup is to artichokes what vichysoisse is to leeks! Delicious as a starter (particularly for an Italian meal) or lunch on a warm day. If you are stumped by the metrics, don't forget you can use the handy converter provided by 'Zaar (to be found just after the quantity). Preparation time DOES NOT include 3-4 hour chilling time."

 

• Ready In: 20mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 14.79 ml olive oil
• 1 onion, finally chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• 2 (1600 g) can artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
• 600 ml vegetable broth
• 150 ml sour cream
• 29.58 ml fresh thyme leaves, finely minced
• 2 sun-dried tomatoes, in thin strips (optional, as garnish)

directions

1. Warm the olive oil in a large saucepan and saute the onion and garlic just until they are softened, but not browned.
2. Add the artichoke hearts and vegetable broth to the mixture.
3. Bring to the boil, then reduce the temperature to a simmer; partially cover the pan and allow to simmer for 3 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, and puree the mixture with a hand blender (or do the same in a food processor) until smooth.
5. Return to the saucepan and allow to cool completely.
6. After it is cooled, add the sour cream and the thyme.
7. Place in the refrigerator, covered, for 3-4 hours before serving.
8. When serving, garnish each bowl with sun-dried tomato strips, if desired.

Reviews

[tatsusargent]

This was very good, a great summer soup. Now I am asked to make it for every dinner party I have. I didn't have any whole hearts, so I just used paste and it worked fine.

 

[echo echo]

I made this yesterday and had some for lunch today. The extra time for letting the soup chill also allows the flavors to meld wonderfully. I did chop up a bit of the artichoke & float it on top of the soup rather than garnishing with dried tomatoes. Other than that, I followed instructions exactly and was rewarded with a creamy, refreshing soup. This time I used regular sour cream, but next time I will go back to my usual low-fat sour cream. And believe me, there WILL be a next time. Another winner, Minx!

 

[Chef Kate]

A wonderful soup in this hot weather--I upped the garlic amount just a bit and added some white pepper. Thank you, Flemish Minx!

 

[Rita1652]

Interesting! I enjoyed this cooling soup! I did add very thinly sliced lemongrass, fresh ginger and lemon juice.I use yogurt in place of the sour cream. I didn`t have veggie broth so I used water. Next time I would save a couple of hearts quartered and used as a ganish. Cilantro would also add to this refreshing soup.