Sluttishly Savoury: Chestnut and Jerusalem Artichoke Veloutè

Jerusalem artichokes are one of the best things about winter. They're weird, knobbly little things and they add an extra level of spice to stews and soups. This is such a simple dish that brings out the best of them. You can serve it as a soup or as a sauce. It'll go brilliant with chicken.

Chestnut and Jerusalem Artichoke Veloutè You'll need:

• 6 large Jerusalem artichokes
• juice of 1 lemon
• 100g cooked peeled chestnuts
• large knob unsalted butter
• 550ml chicken stock
• 350ml milk
• salt and pepper
• drizzle of extra virgin or truffle oil to finish

Make it!

1. Peel and roughly chop the artichokes and put them in a bowl of water and lemon juice to stop them going brown. Roughly chop your chestnuts.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan then add your pieces of artichoke and cook gently on a low heat until they soften and start to caramelise.
3. Add the stock, milk and chopped chestnuts then heat until just starting to boil then remove from the heat and blend using a stick blender or food processor. Taste and season.
4. Strain through a sieve so that it's all smooth and velvety then blend again making sure you get plenty of air into it so it's light and fluffy then serve drizzled with some great oil.