Creamy Potato Fennel Soup Food

FENNEL AND POTATO SOUP

Steps:

• Slice the fennel into medium-size pieces.
• Heat butter and olive oil together in a pot over medium-low heat. Add sliced fennel, spring onions, and 1 cup of the stock. Cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes until fennel is soft and translucent.
• Pour remaining stock into the pot; add potato. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer gently until the potato is very soft and cooked through, about 25 minutes. Gently mash vegetables with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon until soup is thick and chunky. If soup is too thick, stir in water by tablespoons to your desired consistency. Season with black pepper. Let rest 5 minutes to allow flavors to develop before serving.

POTATO-FENNEL SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Make the broth: Cut off the dark green tops of the leeks and put in a large pot along with the fennel stems and fronds; add 8 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, halve the remaining leeks lengthwise, then thinly slice and rinse. Put the carrots and half each of the sliced leeks and diced fennel on a foil-lined baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper, coat with cooking spray and toss. Roast until golden, about 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt the butter in a Dutch oven or pot over medium-high heat. Add the remaining leeks and fennel and cook, stirring, until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the potatoes and 2 cups of the prepared broth. Cover and cook until tender, 15 minutes. Add 4 more cups broth and the milk; bring to a boil. Working in batches, transfer to a blender and puree; season with salt and pepper.
• Ladle the soup into bowls; top with the roasted vegetables and chopped herbs. Spread the ricotta on the toasted bread and season with pepper; serve with the soup.

ROASTED-POTATO FENNEL SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• In a large bowl, toss the potatoes with 1/4 cup olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes, until cooked through.
• Saute the onions and fennel with 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large stockpot on medium heat until translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the roasted potatoes (including the scrapings from the pan) and the chicken stock. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, until all of the vegetables are very soft. Add the heavy cream and allow the soup to cool slightly. Pass the soup through the largest disk of a food mill or chop coarsely in batches in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Taste for salt and pepper. Reheat and serve hot.

CREAM OF FENNEL SOUP

Steps:

• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat and cook onion until soft and translucent. Whisk in flour and stir until a paste forms, 3 to 5 minutes. Whisk water and vegetable bouillon into the saucepan. Add fennel and bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until fennel is soft, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Puree soup with an immersion blender. Stir in cream. If soup is too thick, add more water as needed. Season with salt and pepper.
• Chop fennel fronds. Divide soup between 4 bowls and sprinkle with fennel fronds.

CREAMY POTATO FENNEL SOUP

Steps:

• Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Rinse the fennel bulbs, cut into quarters, remove the core and dice. Reserve a few of the fennel leaves for garnish and chop the rest. Peel and dice the potatoes and celery root.
• Heat the olive oil in a large pot and sauté the garlic, onions and fennel for 1-2 minutes, until translucent. Add the potatoes, celery root and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes and celery root are tender.
• Puree the soup with an immersion blender until smooth, then stir in the heavy cream. Adjust the consistency by adding more broth or letting it simmer down, if needed. Stir in the crème fraîche and vermouth and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
• Ladle into bowls and garnish with the reserved fennel leaves.

CREAMY FENNEL AND LEEK SOUP

Steps:

• Heat the butter in a large, deep (preferably non-stick) sauté pan, over a medium heat, add the sliced fennel (NOT the strips of fennel), sliced leek and finely chopped garlic, and sauté, while stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes or until the fennel, leeks and garlic are beginning to soften.
• Remove from the heat, and set aside.
• In a large pot, heat the stock, add the rosemary sprigs, thyme and nutmeg and bring to the boil.
• Simmer over a low heat for about 15 minutes.
• Remove the rosemary sprigs.
• Add the fennel, leek and garlic mixture to the pot, and stir to combine all the ingredients.
• Set the pan in which the fennel, leek and garlic were sautéed aside, for re-use later.
• Allow the soup to cool slightly (10 minutes cooling time should be ample), then blend it in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth.
• As each batch is blended, pour the blended soup into another pot or pan, perhaps the deep pan used earlier to sauté the fennel, leeks and garlic.
• Once all of the soup has been blended, stir it to ensure that it is of an even consistency (inevitably some batches were probably thinner than others).
• Stir the sour cream and the 1/4 cup of parmesan into the soup.
• Reheat the soup over a medium heat until it is hot, but do not allow it to come to the boil.
• Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Turn off the heat and leave the soup covered so that it stays warm.
• In a small non-stick pan, heat the oil, and sauté the extra leek for 2-3 minutes, or until softened but not browned.
• Ladle the soup into warm soup bowls and top with the sautéed leek.
• Garnish with the extra parmesan and sour cream, and serve immediately with warm crusty rolls.
• Chef's Note: Since posting this recipe, and since last making this soup, I have found and posted a fabulous recipe for vegetable, quite unlike others I have used in the past: Vegetable Stock Recipe #135453.

CREAM OF FENNEL SOUP

Steps:

• Put broth and water in a large soup pot and heat to a boil over medium-high heat. While broth is heating, prepare fennel and onion. Cut tops off fennel, reserving a few of the best fronds. Add vegetables to broth along with garlic, bay leaves, dill, and salt & pepper (to taste). Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 15 minutes or until vegetables are cooked.
• Remove bay leaves and discard. Purée soup (use a blender, food processor or immersion blender) to a smooth consistency. Return to pot and swirl in the 1/2 cup potato flakes. Add chopped fronds. Remove pot from heat.
• Core unpeeled apple and chop into a fine dice. Ladle soup into four bowl. Top each with 1 tbsp apple and 1 tbsp cheese.
• Enjoy!