I've been experimenting with soups lately. With the weather getting colder (yes, it gets chilly even in coastal Southern California.) And I've been infatuated in fennel recipes because, well, I've never really worked with it. It's compared to celery...except it's got a fat white base, has green fuzzy fronds, and has layers like an onion. It's labeled, incorrectly as anise, in many stores, so it should look like this.
Now, I'm fairly adverse to the licorice taste. Not the Twizzler kind, more the black anise-y tasting kind. I'm sure it goes back to some nasty Chinese herbal medicine my parents tried to pour my throat at some point. But, after reading up on fennel and how to prepare, I've been pleasantly surprised with the great taste that fennel effuses. It's perfect roasted alone, or added as an ingredient to soups and sauces. So the recipe posted below will provide a great base for a sauce and soup. I found the inspiration for fennel and tomato soup from several sources, but I will like this one because I like what they did to the veggies.=)
ahttp://www.vegan-food.net/recipe/749/Roast-Fennel-and-Tomato-Soup/
Notice that you do not need to add any sugar like you would to a tomato sauce or soup. The caramelization of the veggies and balsamic vinegar adds a natural sweetness.
Roasted Fennel and Tomato Soup
1 fennel bulb $1.19
1 medium red onion quartered $.22
2 Roma tomatoes $.69
3 garlic cloves, smashed $.30
1/2 box low sodium chicken broth $1.00
1 bay leaf
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Red pepper flakes or 1 diced jalapeno
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. To prepare the fennel bulb, chop the long stalks from the bulb. You can actually see the picture above where I made the cut. Save the stalks for the feathery leaves for recipes calling for herbs and the stalks for soup bases. Trim the base of the bulb where the root end is. Rinse the bulb.
Quarter the bulb and quarter again. Repeat with the tomatoes and red onion. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar onto a sheet pan. Place the quartered pieces onto the pan, drizzle more olive oil and vinegar over the veggies. Fennel pieces will roast better if you separate the layers a little. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes. Turn the veggies halfway through.Add a couple of drops of oil or use a spritz of pan spray to a soup pot. Heat on high and saute smashed garlic for a few minutes. Add chicken stock and bay leaf, bring to a boil. Add the veggies, cover, and reduce to simmer for 30 minutes.
In batches, add the stock and veggies to blender. Add the red pepper flakes or jalapeno at this step. Pulse and then blend until smooth. Stop occasionally to scrape down sides of blender. The mixture will look a little more pink then red. Add a tablespoon of tomato paste for added color if you would like, but it tastes great without it.
You can extend and use this for a multitude of recipes.
Variations:
Add oregano and basil to make a nice pasta or pizza sauce.
Add more broth to make this a soup. Top with some Greek yogurt and chopped chives.
I mixed in some leftover pumpkin puree and it provided a light nuttiness with undertone of pumpkin. Add more or less to taste
Happy November!
DD
