Creamy Fennel And Leek Soup

Total Time: 45 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 30 g unsalted butter
• 2 large fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
• 3 leeks, thoroughly washed, 2 thinly sliced, and 1 cut in half lengthways, and then cut into 4cm strips (for garnish)
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 cups chicken stock or 4 cups vegetable stock
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 1/3 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/3 cup sour cream, low fat is fine
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup sour cream, low fat is fine, to garnish
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated, to garnish

Recipe

• 1 heat the butter in a large, deep (preferably non-stick) sauté pan, over a medium heat, add the sliced fennel (not the strips of fennel), sliced leek and finely chopped garlic, and sauté, while stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes or until the fennel, leeks and garlic are beginning to soften.
• 2 remove from the heat, and set aside.
• 3 in a large pot, heat the stock, add the rosemary sprigs, thyme and nutmeg and bring to the boil.
• 4 simmer over a low heat for about 15 minutes.
• 5 remove the rosemary sprigs.
• 6 add the fennel, leek and garlic mixture to the pot, and stir to combine all the ingredients.
• 7 set the pan in which the fennel, leek and garlic were sautéed aside, for re-use later.
• 8 allow the soup to cool slightly (10 minutes cooling time should be ample), then blend it in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth.
• 9 as each batch is blended, pour the blended soup into another pot or pan, perhaps the deep pan used earlier to sauté the fennel, leeks and garlic.
• 10 once all of the soup has been blended, stir it to ensure that it is of an even consistency (inevitably some batches were probably thinner than others).
• 11 stir the sour cream and the 1/4 cup of parmesan into the soup.
• 12 reheat the soup over a medium heat until it is hot, but do not allow it to come to the boil.
• 13 season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• 14 turn off the heat and leave the soup covered so that it stays warm.
• 15 in a small non-stick pan, heat the oil, and sauté the extra leek for 2-3 minutes, or until softened but not browned.
• 16 ladle the soup into warm soup bowls and top with the sautéed leek.
• 17 garnish with the extra parmesan and sour cream, and serve immediately with warm crusty rolls.
• 18 chef's note: since posting this recipe, and since last making this soup, i have found and posted a fabulous recipe for vegetable, quite unlike others i have used in the past: vegetable stock vegetable stock.