Vino

Fennel soup may sound a little strange, but this is one of the best soups I’ve had/made in a while.  This recipe is slightly modified from one I found on gourmet.com.  Seems like something that would be difficult to make, but it is incredibly easy.  In fact, it is so flavorful that you don’t even need to use stock when making this.  Water will do just fine.

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 small cloves garlic
• 1 small leek (white and light green parts only), cut lengthwise and sliced
  • Can substitute with spring onions
• 1 small russet potato
• 1 bulb of fennel (this is what fresh fennel looks like)
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• water
• croutons (see below)

The soup:

1. In a 4 quart sauce pan, gently saute the garlic, leeks, fennel seeds, and a pinch of salt in the olive oil
2. While those are softening, peel and chop the potato into about 1/2″ pieces.  Also chop the fennel bulb into about the same size pieces.  This can be rough because you are going to blend them later on, anyway.
3. Once the leeks are soft, add the potatoes, fennel and enough water to just cover everything.
4. Bring back to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes (until the potatoes and fennel are nice and tender).
5. Blend the soup until it is nice and creamy.  Put back on the stove and season with salt and pepper.  Top with croutons and serve.

Croutons:

I like to make my own croutons because it is so simple and so much tastier than anything store bought.  For this soup, if you have croutons lying around, by all means use them.  But if you don’t never fear!  You will have super crunchy and tasty croutons in a few minutes… all you need is bread.

1. Preheat the oven to about 300-325.
2. Take some bread (stale or fresh) and cut it into cubes.
3. Put in on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.
4. Now, season it any way you like.  I usually just do salt, pepper, and garlic powder, but you can do anything… here are some thoughts: fresh grated parmesan, dried thyme, dried, basil, dried oregano, chili powder, cumin, etc.
5. Bake it for about 15 minutes, or until the bread has browned a little and is no longer soft.  That’s it!  These will keep for quite a while.