Sunchoke Sauce: A Unique Spin on the Classic Fettuccini Alfredo

This sunchoke sauce is inspired by one of my favorite dishes growing up: Alfredo.

As I kid I thought Alfredo sauce was “healthy” (hey it’s milk right? Oh the woes of growing up in an Italian American family!). It wasn’t until college that I had the painful realization Alfredo sauce isn’t actually the most healthful.

As a result, I regularly look for healthy alternatives to Alfredo sauce. One day I saw a recipe for using cauliflowers so I thought, hell, why not sunchokes?

Below is my interpretation of a healthier alternative to Alfredo using a sunchoke sauce. Once you try it, you may never go back to the original!

Sunchoke Sauce: A Unique Spin on the Classic Fettuccini Alfredo

What are sunchokes?

This is how I describe a sunchoke: If a potato mated with an artichoke, you would get baby sunchokes (also known as Jerusalem artichokes)…which look weirdly like ginger.

My above description describes the look, taste, and texture of a sunchoke, but don’t be fooled into thinking it is related to any one of those above ingredients. Sunchokes — while visually similar to potatoes and ginger — are actually in the sunflower family. These root vegetables are native to North America (despite their other name, “Jerusalem artichokes”) and are in season October – April. You can find them in the grocery store, usually alongside the other root vegetables like potatoes and ginger.

Sunchokes are quite versatile. They can be eaten with or without the skin; and can be thinly sliced and eaten raw in salads or steamed, boiled, and mashed like other root vegetables. Like potatoes they are high in carbs. But unlike potatoes there is very little starch in them.

In terms of flavor they are nutty and reminiscent of traditional artichokes, but are much milder. They have the texture of potatoes, but are a bit grainier. Roasting them with olive oil, salt, and pepper really highlights their sweet, nutty flavor.

Store sunchokes in your fridge’s crisper drawer, covered in paper towels and put in a sealed plastic bag (and never freeze them because they can get mushy, even cooked). They can last months this way.

My last piece of buying advice is to find long, rod shaped pieces with no little nooks and crannies to avoid cutting yourself with a slicer. You’ll also want to make sure they are firm and not soft to the touch or covered with shriveled, dry skin.

About This Sunchoke Sauce

This sunchoke sauce is inspired by one of my favorite recipes for a lighter version of Alfredo sauce. Instead of heavy cream it uses whole milk, cream cheese, and flour as a thickening agent. It’s also extra lemon-y to cut into the creaminess.

I had some sunchokes and wanted to try something a bit different than just roasting them. Since they have a mild white-brown color, I thought it could add a unique flavor to Alfredo while not changing the traditional look. And I was right!

What This Sauce With Sunchokes Tastes Like

This pasta dish is creamy just like the Alfredo you know and love, but the sunchokes add a sweet nuttiness to it. You can really taste the subtle artichoke-like flavor with every bite.

Substitutions for This Jerusalem Artichoke Sauce

You can really play around with the color of this sunchoke sauce by adding roast red peppers to it. Red peppers have a high water concentration so it’ll make for a looser sauce, but you can easily thicken it up with the optional thickening trip I list out in the recipe below. Just broil the red peppers, peel the skin when cooled, chop, and add it to the sauce the same time you add the sunchokes. When you puree it all together, it’ll come out a beautiful orange color like a romesco sauce similar to my butternut squash and carrot mash romesco sauce recipe.

Another substitution you can make is using heavy cream instead of milk if you choose. Or if you have low fat milk on hand, feel free to use that!

Alfredo Sunchoke Sauce Recipe

serves 4 | active: 25 minutes | total: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. fettuccini pasta
• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 10-12 medium-sized sunchokes, peeled (about 1 – 1.5 pounds)
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. flour
• 3 tsp. lemon zest, plus more for garnish (reserve the lemon for serving)
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 3 oz. cream cheese
• Fresh nutmeg
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish (or similar, like Pecorino Romano)
• Chopped parsley for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Toss peeled and chopped sunchokes with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper (a few grinds from a mill is enough). Roast in the oven for 20 minutes until golden brown and soft.
2. Remove the roasted sunchokes from the oven and mash with a potato masher in a bowl as well as you can. You’ll puree the sunchoke sauce later, so don’t worry if it’s still chunky.
3. Meanwhile, make the pasta. Bring a pot of water to a boil. When boiling, salt generously and add the pasta. Cook until al dente, about 5 minutes. Reserve some of the cooking water before draining.
4. While the pasta is cooking, heat the butter on medium in a Dutch oven pot or tall sided pot that won’t get damaged by an immersion blender (so avoid non stick). When the butter is melted, add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the flour and 3 tsp. of lemon zest, stirring with wooden spoon until it becomes a golden brown paste.
5. Add milk and cream cheese to the pot, whisking constantly to thicken, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, mashed sunchokes, and a few grates of fresh nutmeg.
7. Use an immersion blender to puree the sunchoke sauce to the consistency you want.
8. Optional: If the sunchoke sauce isn’t as thick as you’d like it, create a mixture of 1 Tbsp. flour and cold milk. Then add the mixture to the sunchoke sauce and whisk constantly until thicker.
9. Add cooked pasta to pot, mix, add cook for 1-2 minutes to incorporate. Use the reserved cooking water to loosen the sauce if needed.
10. Add fettuccini with the Alfredo sunchoke sauce to serving bowls. Squeeze with lemon juice and garnish with additional lemon zest, parsley, and cheese. Serve and enjoy!

More Pasta Recipe Ideas

If you loved this pasta with Jerusalem artichoke sauce, you’ll love these pasta recipes!

• Pasta with Romanesco Vegetarian Meatballs
• Vibrant Beet Pesto Pasta
• Smoke Salmon Stuffed Shells
• Easy Oven Nasturtium and Corn Risotto
• Israeli Couscous Salad with Corn and Blueberries

Box of sunchokes image courtesy of Yutaka Seki