Roasted Fennel & Kumara Soup
I love the flavour of roasted fennel with its mild aniseed flavour and soft mellow texture. It really sings when combined with citrus fruits such as clementines or mandarins, a combo Ottolenghi uses to great effect.
Inroduction
About this Recipe
By: Sheridan Rogers
Choose fennel with large white bulbs and reserve some of the feathery green fronds for garnish. Slice off their bottoms, cut into halves vertically and then into thinner slices. Wash the clementines (or mandarins) thoroughly, cut them in half horizontally and remove any seeds.
Ingredients
Serves 4-6
- olive oil, 2 tablespoons
- fennel bulbs, 2 medium large, sliced
- onion, 1 sliced
- kumara, 250g, peeled and finely sliced
- clementines (or mandarins), 2, cut in half horizontally
- chicken (or vegetable) stock, 750ml – 1L
- dried thyme, 2 teaspoons
- fennel seeds, 2 teaspoons
- salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
- Greek or natural yoghurt, 1/2 cup
- toasted slivered almonds and pepitas, for garnish, approx 1/2 cup
Preheat the oven to 180C (160F).
Line a large baking tray with the sliced fennel, onion, thinly sliced kumara and halved clementines (or mandarins). Drizzle with the olive oil, scatter over the thyme and season with salt and pepper. Toss well to combine.
Place tray in oven and roast for 30 – 35 minutes. Check occasionally and move the veggies and clementines around to ensure they’re cooking evenly – they need to soften but not become coloured.
Remove from oven and transfer to a large saucepan. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and blend until smooth in batches in a food processor or with a hand-held blender until thick and creamy. Check seasonings and adjust to taste.
Serve hot, dotted with the yoghurt, and scattered with toasted nuts and seeds.