Soup and bread or soup and salad is one of my favorite dinners. It has always been one of the ways I got more vegetables into my family and I just enjoy eating them. This artichoke soup doesn’t have a ton of ingredients and it tastes like artichokes (shocker). So if you love artichokes make this, if not, might I suggest this pesto noodle soup or chicken soup with garlic chili oil instead.
Ideally you would use fresh artichokes/hearts for this. I did not have any at my store, so I used canned. You could also use jarred. If they are the marinated ones that would change the flavor a bit since they have more acidity, but I think it could still work. This soup is simple mix of onion, garlic, carrot, celery, artichoke hearts, lemon, salt, pepper and cream or milk. The artichoke flavor really comes through in it. I kept some hearts and cut them into smaller pieces to add some texture back into the soup. I also added some shaved parmesan on top.
We ate this soup with some garlic tomato cheese bread I made with leftover soft pretzel rolls.
Artichoke Soup
Ingredients
- 3 cups chopped baby artichokes or hearts
- 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 onion diced
- 4 celery stalks diced
- 3 carrots diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups milk or cream
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- shaved parm for topping
Instructions
- If using canned or jarred artichokes, drain them. If using fresh, discard any tough outer leaves/stems and remove the heart/choke and cut up the usable parts into pieces. Place into water if not using right away so they don't brown.
- Heat the butter in a stock pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, carrot and celery and cook until tender. Add the hearts and broth as well as the salt and pepper, reserving some pieces for garnish or texture if you want. Simmer for 10 minutes then transfer to a blender and blend until smooth.
- You can either serve as is, or put through a fine mesh strainer to remove any fibers. I did this because I wanted a fully smooth soup. Return soup to the pan and add the reserved hearts as well as the milk or cream. Heat until hot and add the lemon juice from the lemon and adjust salt/pepper as needed.
- Serve topped with shaved parmesan.