Sunchoke soup with toasted walnuts, parsley oil and sunflower sprouts + a short summary on my recent workshop

Sunchoke soup with toasted walnuts, parsley oil and sunflower sprouts :: Sonja Dahlgren/Dagmar's Kitchen

Last Friday I had the honor to meet six new students at another food styling and photography workshop here in Dagmar’s Kitchen. And as always on these workshops, it is so inspiring to meet other food photography nuts and just sit down and chat about those things that “normal” people just don’t get.

And we chatted almost too much before we got to work on the sunchoke soup and the rhubarb crumble that came to be the center of everyone’s attention for the next three hours or so.

A food styling and photography workshop in Dagmar's Kitchen :: Sonja Dahlgren/Dagmar's KitchenA food styling and photography workshop in Dagmar's Kitchen :: Sonja Dahlgren/Dagmar's KitchenA food styling and photography workshop in Dagmar's Kitchen :: Sonja Dahlgren/Dagmar's Kitchen

In case you don’t know I work from my home here in Gothenburg, and that is also where I host my workshops (most times). Working from home (or in a “non-studio” environment) is also what I base my teaching on; how to make simple setups in the home and how to make most use of the available light.

A food styling and photography workshop in Dagmar's Kitchen :: Sonja Dahlgren/Dagmar's Kitchen

Juliana working by my favorite north facing window

A food styling and photography workshop in Dagmar's Kitchen :: Sonja Dahlgren/Dagmar's Kitchen

A simple setup with a board on two stools by a window

A food styling and photography workshop in Dagmar's Kitchen :: Sonja Dahlgren/Dagmar's Kitchen

Food and prop styling by Maria and Annica

Rhubarb crumble with custard :: Sonja Dahlgren/Dagmar's Kitchen

When the time had come for dessert we discussed simplicity (as in “less is more”) and how to style the same food in different ways

Rhubarb crumble :: Sonja Dahlgren/Dagmar's Kitchen

Thank you so much Juliana, Jenny, Maria, Anders, Louise and Annica for coming and for making the day so memorable for me and for your fellow workshoppers.

And if you read this and are interested in participating next time (most likely in September/October) just send me an e-mail and I’ll put you on the list to get a notification once the announcement is out here on the blog.

I’ll leave you with the recipe for the sunchoke (jerusalem artichoke) soup we played with on the workshop and wishing you all a lovely weekend! Be back soon.

Sunchoke soup with toasted walnuts, parsley oil and sunflower sprouts

serves 4-6

1 pound (about 500 g) sun chokes
1 onion
1 small leek
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp butter + 1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups (about 500 ml) vegetable stock
6 tbsp white wine
6 tbsp full fat cream or coconut cream
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
sea salt & black pepper to taste

toasted walnuts, parsley oil and sunflower sprouts to garnish

1) Peel the sun chokes and cut them into smaller chunks. To prevent from darkening drop the pieces into lemon- or vinegar water while peeling the remaining sun chokes. Peel and chop the onion, leek and garlic clove finely.
2) In a medium pot, melt the butter/olive oil over medium heat. Add the sun chokes, onion, leek and garlic. Cook on medium low heat for about 5-7 minutes until slightly softened (do not brown). Add the vegetable stock and wine. Bring to a boil, cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cream and simmer for 5 more minutes.
3) Add balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste and puree the soup in a blender.

Serve the sunchoke soup with the toasted walnuts, parsley oil and sunflower sprouts.

Toasted walnuts
1 cup raw walnuts

1) Preheat the oven to 150° C (300° F). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper , add walnuts and spread them out in a single layer. Place on the middle rack of oven and toast for 6-10 mintes (for walnut halves – a little less if using walnut pieces). Once crisp and fragrant they are ready. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Parsley oil
1 cup fresh parsley leaves
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
pinch of sea salt

1) Blend all ingredients with a hand blender until smooth. Store in the fridge until using – remove from the fridge 30-60 minutes before using to make sure the oil softens again.

Sunchoke soup with toasted walnuts, parsley oil and sunflower sprouts :: Sonja Dahlgren/Dagmar's Kitchen

show hide 8 comments

valentina | sweet kabocha - May 29, 2015 - 12:22 pm

I love so much sunchokes, but my gut doesn’t tolerate them unfortunately :( This soup seems really delicious ^_^

Sonja {Dagmar's Kitchen} - May 29, 2015 - 3:56 pm

Valentina – how sad for you :-( Sunchokes are so delicious!

Kimberly/TheLittlePlantation - May 29, 2015 - 4:55 pm

I love the two completely different interpretations of the rhubarb crumble. Creativeity is such a wonderful ting, right?
I will one day come to a work shop you run. I WILL. And by writing that I know it can come true.
In the interim, I’ve signed up to my first workshop this weekend. Inspired by the ones you run :) because I am so keen to get a better grip on lighting. I have 2 sky lights in the kitchen and french doors so it’s VERY light and hard to control.
No North facing windows anywhere in the house :(
Hope I’ll learn to work light to my advantage and chat to people who will understand what I’m moaning about ;)
Thanks for always inspiring.

Alex Medwedeff - May 30, 2015 - 3:48 pm

Hi sonja,

it seems that you had a nice day. I am also in the mood to come for another workshop at your house.

the rhubarb crumble looks fine. do you also have a recipe for that?

kind regards
alex

Sonja {Dagmar's Kitchen} - June 2, 2015 - 11:12 am

Kimberlly – I totally agree – there are so many different ways to style and interpret a dish and always so exciting to see all the different styles the students come up with at a workshop. I would absolutely LOVE to have you on one of my workshops so I hope that will come true too! xoxo Sonja

Sonja {Dagmar's Kitchen} - June 2, 2015 - 11:15 am

Hi Alex! Oh yes we had a great day thank you! Can’t believe it’s been almost a year since you and Juliana were here! The rhubarb crumble is just an ordinary crumble – a pinch of sugar on the rhubarb, a crumble made of 100g butter, 2 dl spelt flour + 1 dl oat flour + 3 tbsp raw granulated sugar + a pinch of salt. 220° for 20 minutes – voilà!

All the best and hope to see you again soon!

Sini | My Blue&White Kitchen - June 3, 2015 - 9:55 am

Just wonderful, Sonja! Needless to say, I would love to attend one of your workshops one day; I admire your food styling and photography so much.

[…] The recipe for the delicious sunchoke soup can be found here. […]