Comfort Essentials The Best Fennel Tomato Soup Food

ROASTED TOMATO AND FENNEL SOUP

Steps:

• Heat up the oven to 200° C / 390° F and grab a large baking dish or tray. Use a larger tray (ignore the first photo - I used it as it looked nice) and ensure there is a bit of space around each piece of fennel to get more caramelisation.
• Coat (or brush if wanting to use less oil) fennel, onion, cherry tomatoes and garlic cloves in olive oil and drizzle the onions in balsamic vinegar. Scatter with thyme leaves, sprinkle with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, cumin and chilli if using.
• Roast for about 25-30 minutes (flipping onto the other side half way through) until fennel is soft and caramelised on both sides.
• While the veggies are roasting, place squashed canned tomatoes and 1 cup of stock in a large pot. Allow it to come to boil and simmer, covered until tomatoes fall apart.
• Transfer all the roasted veggies (deglaze the pan with hot water and add that too) to a blender with some stock, simmered tinned tomatoes and a jarred pepper (if using). Blend until smooth.
• Transfer to back to the pot you used to cook canned tomatoes, warm up and season to taste, with more salt, pepper, balsamic or sweetener if needed. Dilute with a bit more stock if needed.
• Serve with swirl of cashew cream on top and homemade croutons or spiced chickpeas for more substance .
• Cut the bread into an even dice. I went for small 0.5 cm / 0.2" cubes.
• If your bread is fresh, like mine was, toast it on a dry stainless steel pan first until dry and barely toasted. Otherwise the croutons will be greasy.
• Once the cubes of bread are dry, remove them from the pan and wipe the pan with a clean kitchen towel.
• Return the pan to the stove and heat up the oil slowly. Once the oil gets hot, throw the bread cubes in and immediately coat them in the hot oil.
• Allow the bread to toast slowly in the pan, tossing it around from time to time. Season with a good pinch of salt and set aside for the soup.

TOMATO AND FENNEL SOUP

Steps:

• In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the fennel and cook, stirring, until it starts to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the celery, onion, and garlic. Cook, stirring, 5 minutes longer to allow the flavors to blend together. Carefully add the Pernod. (Caution! It could flame up.) Add the dill, celery seeds, and pepper. Add the vegetable stock and tomatoes, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let simmer for 40 minutes.
• Remove the pot from the heat. Process the soup, in batches, in a blender or food processor fitted with the metal chopping blade until smooth. Add the butter, if desired, and stir until melted. Taste and check the seasoning, adding salt if needed.

TOMATO FENNEL SOUP

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook and stir fennel, onion, celery, and garlic in the hot oil until tender, about 10 minutes.
• Pour tomatoes and chicken broth over vegetable mixture and simmer for 4 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and add basil and parsley. Cool soup slightly.
• Pour soup into a blender no more than half-full. Cover and hold lid down; pulse a few times before leaving on to blend. Puree in batches until smooth.

COMFORT ESSENTIALS: THE BEST FENNEL TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• 1. PREP/PREPARE
• 2. I love the smell of fennel, and I love the taste of fennel. With that said, this soup is not overpowered with that wonderful spice. It has just enough presence to let your tongue know that it is there. I tried this with fresh fennel; however, toasted fennel did the trick for me.
• 3. There are a lot of canned tomato products on the market, and in this recipe, I am using Cento brand. If you are on the lookout for good canned tomatoes, you might want to check out my study on canned tomatoes: https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/soup/soup-other-soup/cooking-class-the-best-canned-tomatoes.html#page6 https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/sauce-spread/sauce-spread-other-sauce-spread/removing-the-bitter-taste-from-canned-tomatoes.html?r=1
• 4. Gather your ingredients (mise en place).
• 5. Add the oil and butter to a large pot, over medium heat.
• 6. When the butter melts, give the pot a swirl to mix the oil and butter, and then add the fennel seeds.
• 7. Allow the seed to toast in the pot for about 2 minutes, constantly stirring.
• 8. Add the onion, celery, carrots, and cook until the onion begins to soften, about 3 - 4 minutes.
• 9. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 60 seconds.
• 10. Add the tomatoes, and chicken stock, and stir to combine.
• 11. Add the basil, red-pepper flakes paprika, and bring to a simmer.
• 12. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes; adding a bit of salt and white pepper, to taste.
• 13. Remove from heat place in a blender, add the butter and cream, and blend until smooth.
• 14. Chef's Note: If you want it chunky, just add the butter and cream to the pot, and stir until combined.
• 15. Just before serving, add the lemon juice, and do a final tasting for proper seasoning.
• 16. Chef's Note: I like my tomato soup thick; however, if you want yours a bit thinner, add a bit more chicken stock.
• 17. Chef's Tip: We have some basic tomato soup ingredients going on here (tomatoes, onions, carrots, etc.). So, once the soup is finished, play about with the lemon juice, salt, and pepper, until you achieve the perfect balance.
• 18. PLATE/PRESENT
• 19. Serve warm with crusty bread. Enjoy.
• 20. Keep the faith, and keep cooking.