Topinambours counts under “the old vegetables/foods” which have been making a come back the last few years. Previously I made a Velouté de topinambour which is great. This time it is is cut into chunks, sprinkled with powdered espelette pepper and baked in the oven on a bed of fresh thyme.

topinambours au four(baked topinambours)

Oven baked topinambours with thymSuggestions:

  1. Sauté some apple chunks in butter, add a bit of cassonade(brown sugar) and fry until nicely caramelized. Mix gently with the baked topinambours and serve warm.
  2. The piment d’espelette can be replaced by any other chili of your choice, either dry and in powder form, or finly chopped.
  3. Cook the  topinambours in water on the stovetop until almost tender and then add to an oven pan with the seasonings to caramelize. It shortens the baking time.
  4. Serve the topinambours on a bed of salad greens or as an accompaniment to any meat.
  5. By adding créme frâiche after baked in the oven,  you can serve it with a pasta or add it to a saffron risotto.
  6. Be sure to have it nicely tender or else it has a “burning” taste, much like raw potato.
  7. It is a healthy alternative to potatoes, seeing that it has a lower glycemic index than potatoes.
  8. Enjoy!

…topinambours…

topinambours - ingredients

Piment d’espelette is a variety of pepper, with a light “bite” that is produced in the Basque region of France. Because of its fragrant flavour and taste, it is frequently used instead of pepper. We also find a beautiful fleur de sel d’espelette, which is powdered espelette mixed with a good quality fleur de sel, which is what I used on my baked topinambours)

…piment d’espelette…

piment espelette

For Liandri’s  birthday in beginning of Octobre, we had dinner le chateau de Beaulieu here in Tours. A nice quaint hotel with a menu gastronomique;  we could choose between foie gras, turbot, pigeon, filet de boeuf, magret de canard, carré d’agneau… A small dinng room, a local wine list as well as some distant cousins, nice dessert, coffee and olde worlde ambiance. A charming place to stay and dine when you visit our area.

…chateau de beaulieu…

chateau de Beaulieu chateau de beaulieu 2

…Olde world memories for olde world foods…

old plates les carafes

15 thoughts on “Baked topinambours with thyme(Topinambours aux thym)”

  1. Those look and sound so delicious, Ronell. You’re making me drool. Love this post! When I get home for good in December, I’m coming back here and I’m going to make these.

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  3. Mmm! I like jerusalem artichokes, but remember that as children we called them (rudely!) fartichokes because they induce wind.
    I have not seen them here in the tropics, but I planted some at the old place to help “break up the soil” in new areas.

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  4. I have never had tropinambours..I am certain they are delish!

    I clicked on the link and the hotel looks like a birthday:) Lucky fortunate you:)

    And the plate:) C’est si beau!! Tout!!!Comme toujours..

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  5. I love those beautiful decanters – and I LOVE this recipe! I never knew Jerusalem artichokes before I came to the UK and now I’m addicted 🙂

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  6. oh ronell, i LOVE topinambours… and theirs is one of the most anticipated season of all vegetables for me! they’re not easy to get here… only the top supermarkets sell them and even the markets don’t always have them.
    i roasted some recently for use in a warm salad – and i saw a recipe (skye gyngell, a chef i admire very much) which uses them RAW in combination with ceps, I think. Have you ever tried them raw? i somehow can’t get myself to try the recipe as I think they don’t taste of very much raw… what do you think?

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  7. Oh yum, Ronell! I see I’ve been away too long and missed some delightful recipes. Thank you for sharing … it’s always a joy to visit 🙂 Happy November!

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  8. what a great way to cook topinambours..i bought some one time but never had the chance to find a good recipe to cook them.. i bet they are perfect with thyme…yummy !!

    ps, im convincing hubby to celebrate our birthdays this december with a romantic gastronomique dinner

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  10. I haven’t eaten jerusalem artichokes in years! Now that you’ve reminded me of them (and anything that has chili in it gets my vote!), I’m thinking they’ll be on my plate soon.

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  11. Thansk for the visit and nice remarks, kind commentors, I always appreciate it!
    Johanna – I don’t like them raw at all. They taste like raw potato,rutabaga! but your warm salad sounds delicious!
    hilda, I hope you get your romantic diner gastronomique!
    Ronelle

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  12. I have never had tropinambours….but looks delicious. I really love roasted vegetables, it accentuate the flavors.
    Ps: Loved the watercolor.

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  13. I’ve never tried anything like this before but it looks really good – thanks for the share!

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  15. Hello ronelle,

    I so love topinamebours or aardperen in Dutch or Jerusalem artichokes in English!!

    They are very underestimated old vegetables in Belgium. I like to eat them a lot because they are so healthy too. They contain Inuline,..so they are very good for you. You won’t get fat! I love your lovely & easy dish, with lots of flavour!!

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