When we went to Turkey, we frequented the bar at the Kybele hotel in Istanbul. The bar tender was a laid back, super friendly guy who even let me make my own drinks at the bar! One night, I wanted to try Raki – an anise/fennel flavored Turkish liquor. I took one sip of it and spat it out. It was terribly strong and tasted awful. “Women don’t like the taste of anise” said the bar tender. I believed him; after all I don’t like liquorice and didn’t like Raki. But all that changed when I first had fennel soup. I loved the light onion flavor of fennel. Fennel is also wonderfully bright, citrusy and mild. I saw a very nice recipe for fennel soup on the eatingclub vancouver blog. I liked that the recipe used white wine. So that’s what Ive done in my recipe as well to concentrate the flavors of the fennel and leeks.
Ingredients
Fennel – 1 bulb
Leeks – 1 stalk
Heavy Cream – 1/2 cup
Wine – 1/2 cup
Water – 3/4 cup
Olive oil – 1 tbsp
Salt – about 1 1/4 tsp
Pepper
Chop the fennel into rough pieces, don’t use the tough top green stalks. Reserve the fennel fronds for garnishing. Chop the leeks and clean them by soaking in cold water to remove the grit.
Heat a pot with olive oil. Add the fennel to the oil and saute for about 10 minutes. Then add the chopped leeks. Cook on medium another 3 minutes.
Add salt and pour in the wine. Increase the heat to high and let most the wine evaporate – about 2-3 minutes. Now pour in the water and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes or till the fennel is soft. Cool the mixture and puree into a smooth soup in a blender. Return to heat, when the soup is hot, turn off heat, stir in the cream and some cracked pepper. Garnish soup with fennel fronds.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Lovely presentation… and that looks so creamy & thick. I've not cooked with fennel so far…
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Nice to know you spent time with M in atlanta.. Hope she’s doing good.
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First of all, I LOVE the black spoons! What a stunning way to present the soup. I am also not a big licorice fan but I do love fennel, especially when cooked or roasted. I don’t think I’ve ever done a fennel soup – but I will now!
(BTW: in answer to your comments on my site about those lights – I think they are on my Christmas list!)
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Dana, thanks! I had great trouble deciding if I should use white or black spoons. I am buying the lights too, they seem to be the cheapest on Amazon..cant depend on natural light in the winter!
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Wow wat a creamy soup..love the presentation…delicious soup for soup lovers..
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I’ve had Leek soup but have never tried fennel with it….I might just try it!
Gorgeous pics btw!
trupti
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Don’t think I’m a huge fan of fennel, but your soup looks very pretty!
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hmmm soup! it looks delicious and makes me want to make some soup for these cold wet days that are now upon us.
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That looks so rich and creamy! I use leeks every now and then in a potato and leek soup. Have got to try it with fennel now…
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