Artichoke herb soup

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 artichokes
• 1 onion(s)
• 1 organic lemon(s)
• 1 liter vegetable broth
• 1 bunch of thyme
• ½ bunch parsley
• 200 ml cream
• Thyme for sprinkling
• Salt
• pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 25 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 35 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour

Wash the herbs and lemon, peel the onion, and roughly chop it. Wash the artichokes, remove the stems, and halve or quarter them if necessary to fit the pot. Bring the vegetable broth to a boil in a saucepan with the herbs (reserve some thyme for garnish), half a lemon, the onion, and the artichokes, then simmer lightly covered for about 30 minutes. Strain through a sieve and drain well, reserving the broth. Let the artichokes cool slightly, then pluck the leaves and scrape out the “pulp” at the bottom of the leaves with the back of a knife or a spoon. Remove the hay and press the pulp, the artichoke bottoms, and, if necessary, the softened onion through a fine sieve into the broth. This is time-consuming, but necessary. Pureeing isn’t enough, as nasty, tough fibers remain, so strain through a sieve! Reheat the broth and season with pepper, salt, and a little lemon juice from the remaining lemon half. Whip the cream until stiff. Before serving, fold the cream into the soup and garnish with thyme. 230 kcal per serving.