I adore making soup. I love prepping all of the ingredients, I like getting all the flavors to come together and I love the smell of goodness as the soup simmers away on the stove. Forget candles – I will take a pot of soup any day! I also like the communal aspect of soup – several containers were prepped and went out the door to friends once the Spicy Roasted Tomato and Fennel Soup reached completion.
To celebrate the New Year, I jumped out of bed and entered the kitchen with a burning need to chop and prep and blend and create. It was an absolute blast and a great way to begin 2012.
Comfort foods have been on my mind. After the rich food of the holidays, I was craving a grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of tomato soup. Roasting vegetables brings a great depth of flavor to your soup (and a great smell to the house!) even if you end up pureeing the soup for serving. And, of course, I could not just go for a straight tomato soup – I had plenty of veggies to choose from left over from holiday cooking!
I have to give a complete hat tip to The Boys Market in Delray Beach for the most amazing tomatoes and veggies – they always have THE BEST selection!
The roasting and cook time on this recipe is one that should be undertaken on a lazy Sunday and the development of flavors at the end is completely worth it!
This recipe gave me TWO for the price of one this week – Meatless Monday AND Fennel Friday … SCORE!
My side of Gruyere grilled cheese was made with Udi’s gluten free whole wheat bread - it is a wonderful bread for toasting and grilling and really, anything that involves eating.
What is the comfort food that YOU are making this week?
| Spicy Roasted Tomato and Fennel Soup |
- 3 lbs whole fresh tomatoes (FRESH!)
- 1 fennel bulb
- 1 large yellow onion
- 1 leek
- 2 carrots
- 2 stalks celery
- 4 cloves garlic
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 6 cups stock (Veggie stock for Meatless Monday!)
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp Spicy Fennel Salt from Pollen Ranch
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Quarter the fennel bulb and remove the stem/base end.
- Cut the celery in half, peel the carrots and cut the ends off. Cut the carrots in half.
- Peel the onion, cut the ends off and cut into quarters.
- Rinse the leek and chop the end and the dark green top. Slice lengthwise in half.
- Peel the garlic cloves.
- Toss the fennel, celery, carrots, onion and garlic with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and place on a sheet pan.
- Cut the cores from the tomatoes. and cut the tomatoes in half. Toss tomatoes with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Place on a sheet pan.
- Put both pans 325 degree oven and roast for 1:20 to 1:45.
- Put all the vegetables into a large soup pot and add 6 cups of chicken or vegetable stock. Add the cumin, spicy fennel salt, smoked paprika, cayenne and salt to taste.
- Bring to a simmer and cook until the tomatoes break apart. Allow firmer vegetables to soften.
- Puree with an immersion blender or allow to cool and puree in a regular blender.
- Optional – (I like the chunky bits) Strain the soup through a fine mesh strainer to remove the skins, seeds and fibrous parts of the fennel.
- Return the soup to the pot and reheat if you used a blender.
- Salt and Pepper to taste before serving.
I got a taste test and I can honestly say the flavors from the roasted tomatoes came through and the fennel, cumin & paprika blend was very tasty. I have to say the grilled cheese made with Udi’s gluten free bread was really good, too!