Tomato Fennel Soup With Brie Toasts 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-FENNEL SOUP WITH BRIE TOASTS

Steps:

• Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add fennel, onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Toss to combine. Reduce heat to medium-low. Partly cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in garlic and chile powder; cook 1 minute. Stir in Pernod and cook until almost completely evaporated, about 3 minutes.
• Pour in tomatoes, 1 1/2 cups water and the stock. Bring to a simmer and cook gently, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Season with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and the black pepper. Purée soup in batches using a blender or immersion blender until smooth.
• Transfer soup back to pot over medium heat; simmer until slightly thickened, 5 to 10 minutes more. Scrape down sides and bottom of pot occasionally. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread bread slices on a large baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 10 minutes.
• Toast fennel seeds in a small skillet over medium heat until fragrant and lightly colored, 2 to 3 minutes. Melt in remaining 1 tablespoon butter.
• Adjust oven temperature to broil and position rack 6 inches from heat. Brush toasts with fennel-seed butter and top with Brie. Return to oven and broil until bubbly and golden, 1 to 3 minutes (check every minute or so to see that they are not burning). Ladle soup into bowls and top with a cheese crouton. Garnish with fennel fronds.

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.

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:

• In 4-quart saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Cook fennel, onion and garlic in oil about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender. Stir in tomatoes, broth, salt and pepper, breaking up tomatoes with spoon. Heat to boiling.
• Reduce heat. Cover; simmer 20 to 25 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
• Carefully pour half of the mixture into blender. Cover; blend on high speed about 30 seconds or until smooth. Return to saucepan. Repeat with remaining mixture. Keep warm over low heat until serving.