Jerusalem Artichokes Baked with Cream and Bacon

Name: Jerusalem Artichokes Baked with Cream and Bacon
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: European cuisine
Ingredients: 250 gm thinly sliced smoked bacon; 2 piece carrots; 2 piece onions; 700 gm Jerusalem artichokes; 125 gm heavy cream; pinch nutmeg; 100 gm hard cheese; salt, pepper

September 22, 2026October 11, 2026 Kateryna Bondar

Cuisine

European cuisine

Course

Meat dishes

Serves 4 people

Prep time

15m

Cook Time

40m

Jerusalem artichokes — sold as sunchokes in most American markets — are the tubers of a sunflower, not a relative of the potato, and they taste like it: nutty, faintly sweet, somewhere between an artichoke heart and celery root. That is exactly why smoked bacon and cream suit them; the smoky fat and the dairy mute the sweetness while nutmeg ties the two together. Don’t bother peeling the 700 g (about 1½ lb) of tubers — a stiff brush is enough, and the thin skin disappears in the baking.

Two mistakes that are easy to make

Cream below about 30% fat tends to break into grains over half an hour of braising with vegetables; use heavy cream (the 125 g here is roughly ½ cup) and keep it under a rolling boil.
Overcooked sunchokes collapse. They should still be firm in the middle when they go under the cheese, since they keep cooking in the oven.

The whole thing happens in one ovenproof skillet: bacon first, then the carrot and onion in the rendered fat, then the slow braise, then a blanket of grated cheese in a 355°F (180°C) oven until browned. Pancetta or a slab of streaky pork stands in for the bacon; sautéed mushrooms make it meat-free. Keep portions moderate — sunchokes are rich in inulin, a fiber the gut needs a few meals to get used to.

Part of European cuisine — 100 more recipes in the section.

Ingredients

Instructions

In a large skillet (one that can go in the oven), lightly fry the bacon. Remove it from the skillet, and in the rendered fat sweat the grated carrot and the half-moon-sliced onion until soft.
Scrub the Jerusalem artichokes well with a brush, cut them into large pieces, and add them to the vegetables in a baking dish, then stir.
Lay the fried bacon on top, pour over the cream, dust with nutmeg, and season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat to minimum and braise the Jerusalem artichokes for about half an hour; they should become soft but hold their shape.
Sprinkle everything with grated cheese and place in an oven preheated to 180°C (355°F): the cheese crust should turn golden.

Nutrition: Calories: 380 kcal · protein 16 g · fat 26 g · carbs 22 g (per serving, estimated)