Serves: 6
Ingredients
550gms of scrubbed artichokes
50 gms of butter
1 small onion chopped finely
600 mls of chicken stock
juice of 2 oranges and zest of 1
fresh french tarragon (2 tablespoons chopped) or 1 heaped teaspoon dried
pepper and salt
Method
Cook the artichokes in boiling salted water until almost tender, drain and peel and slice.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan, cook the onion till soft (if using dried tarragon add now).
Add artichokes, orange juice and zest and cook for 3 minutes.
Add stock and simmer until the artichoke is very soft (if using fresh tarragon, add now).
Blend till very smooth, you could sieve the soup at this point to make it even finer.
Return to your pot and gently reheat, season and if you like, you can add some cream now to make a richer soup.
If you have fresh tarragon, snip a little into the soup before serving. Be careful, though, tarragon is named after a dragon and its flavour can be overpowering firey!