A few weeks ago, my friend Carly made sunchoke soup for a Mediterranean-themed dinner that we went to. I like soup as much as the next person (in the winter, maybe more), but I’ve never tried soup that has blown me away. Maybe once in Chicago during restaurant week…but that’s another story.

When I tried Carly’s soup, though, I literally blacked out for a second. Has anything ever been this good? I asked myself. I am not exaggerating when I say that it’s the best homemade soup that I’ve ever tasted.

So, it was only a matter of time before I decided to recreate the soup at home. I’m a big believer in using up ingredients, though, so I made a few substitutions. I had white wine in the fridge so I subbed that in for prosecco. I also used real Parmesan cheese instead of making the “rawmesan” that was in the original recipe. The pine nut/hemp seed combo sounded…interesting. But it would take a lot for me to give up cheese, to which I have a hard and fast addiction.

This is the perfect soup to eat when the temperature drops below 50 or when you need some comfort food. The leftovers taste even better because the flavors have a chance to set. Enjoy!

Sunchoke Soup with Thyme (slightly adapted from Nourish Atelier)

Ingredients

For the soup:
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 lb sunchokes, peeled and diced
1 medium size shallot, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 ½ tbs fresh thyme
1 ¼ cup vegetable broth
½ cup white wine, plus more to taste
¾ cup thick coconut milk
½ cup almond milk
1 ½ tbsp almond butter
2 tsp fine salt plus more to taste
1 tsp honey (or agave syrup for a vegan soup)
1 tsp lemon juice
a grind of freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
Parmesan cheese for topping

For the rawmesan (if you’re vegan):
1 handful hemp seeds
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
100 gram pine nuts, roughly grounded into crumbles
1 tsp salt
a drizzle of lemon juice

Directions

For the rawmesan:

Mix all the ingredients well in a small bowl. Set aside until serving (keeps for a week in the fridge).

For the soup:

Heat a pot to medium low heat, add and melt the coconut oil and add the shallot, stir for 2-3 minutes.

Add the garlic and thyme, fry for another 1-2 minutes and stir the whole time.

Add the sunchokes with more oil if needed, fry for another minute while stirring well.

Add vegetable broth and the coconut milk. Stir a little.

Add the honey (or agave syrup), salt, white wine, black pepper, almond milk and almond butter, mix well and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to medium low and let it all simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat and blend together with an immersion blender or a regular blender.

Stir in the lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil, taste the soup and adjust with salt and pepper, if you like a thinner soup – add a little more almond milk and warm it up before serving.

Serve right away with parmesan or rawmesan, a drizzle of olive oil and a few sprigs of thyme (the thyme really just makes it look pretty).