Cream Of Fennel Soup With Anchovy Croutons

Total Time: 57 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 47 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 teaspoon fennel
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 50 g butter
• 2 sticks celery
• 1 leek
• 2 bulbs fennel
• 1 1/4 liters chicken stock
• 150 ml double cream
• 3 slices bread
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 6 anchovies

Recipe

• 1 gently toast the fennel seeds in a dry frying pan for a couple of minutes, then crush them with the side of a knife and give them a quick chop.
• 2 in a heavy-based saucepan, sweat the onion and garlic in the butter with the ground seeds for 5 minutes, then add the celery, leek and fennel. season and stir.
• 3 cover the pan and cook over a low heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring from time to time to avoid coloration.
• 4 add the stock, bring to the boil, give it a good skim and simmer for a further 15 minutes.
• 5 for the croutons, remove the crusts and cut the bread into 2cm cubes.
• 6 heat the oil in a wide frying pan and add the anchovy pieces, using the back of a spoon to encourage them to melt in the hot oil. now add and gently fry the croutons, moving them around constantly until they are approaching a nice, even golden brown - less than 5 minutes total cooking time.
• 7 use a slotted spoon to drain them briefly on kitchen roll and season with pepper.
• 8 meanwhile, finish the soup by pouring it into the blender and whizzing until smooth. stir in the cream and season.
• 9 serve in hot bowls with a scattering of croutons on top.