Roasted Carrot and Fennel Soup is about to save the day. For today, I am recovering from an awful stomach bug and have a nasty head cold on top of it. The universe is seriously double dipping. And did I mention there is small person running around our house who thinks I’m supposed to play cars, read books and, you know, attend to his basic needs?
I am dehydrated, weak, and for the first time in 48 hours, hungry. Sustenance needed-pronto. Said sustenance needs to 1. not require a trip to grocery store 2. require absolute minimal effort 3. Be warm, comforting and yummy. So, I explored the back of our fridge and came up with a half a fennel bulb, the bulk of a bag of carrots and an onion. And if I’m lucky there will be vegetable stock in the pantry………..? Oh, good!
Enter Stage Left— Roasted Carrot and Fennel Soup.
I could combine these ingredients in a big pot with some aromatics and stand around and micro manage my soup, which I frequently enjoy doing. Or……I could throw it all on a baking sheet, let the oven do the work and go lay on the couch. Yes, please.
Veggies
This roasted carrot and fennel soup is doing triple duty today. First, I am going to snag a few of the roast veggies before I puree them for part of my small person’s dinner. Secondly, this bowl of yummy is going to give me sustenance to get through the rest of this doggone day. And tonight, I am going serve it to Alan dressed up a little with thyme cream and a pine nut spice blend. And after that I am going to retreat into a hot bath and possibly never come out.
Enjoy!
Thyme Cream
Roasted Carrot and Fennel Soup
Roasted Carrot and Fennel Soup – Perfect for when you need soup that is delicious, nutritious and super, stupid easy.
Yields: 4 servings
- 1 1/2 lbs of carrots, trimmed, peeled and cut in large chunks
- 1 large sweet onion, peeled and cut into wedges
- 1 1/2 fennel bulbs, outer layer removed, cut into wedges
- 4 cloves garlic still in their husks
- olive oil
- Approx 4 C vegetable stock
- salt and pepper
- Thyme Yogurt Cream
- 1/4 C plain greek yogurt
- 1/2 tsp good quality olive oil
- 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
- pinch of salt
- Nut & Spice Blend
- 3 T Pine Nuts
- 1 T Cumin Seeds
- 1 T Coriander
- olive oil
- kosher salt
- fresh ground pepper
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- toss onion, carrots and fennel with enough olive oil to coat and sprinkle with salt
- pop veggies into oven for 20 minutes
- after 20 minutes, add garlic cloves
- roast an additional 20 minutes
- remove and allow to cool.
- Remove garlic from their husks and add garlic cloves back to veggies
- put about 1/3 of veggies in a blender or food processor and pour in enough vegetable stock to cover. Puree for about a minute for silky, creamy soup. If you are after a heartier texture, just cut it off when it looks good. Then pour soup into a large stockpot.
- Repeat until all veggies are blended. Slowly reheat on the stove.
- For the Thyme Cream-While the soup is re-heating, combine greek yogurt, thyme, olive oil and salt.
- For the Pine Nut Spice Blend, toast pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat-keep an eye on these- they will go from "no where near toasted" to "burst to a crisp" in the blink of an eye. Watch em! Transfer toasted nuts to plate.
- Add cumin and coriander seeds to pan and toast until fragrant- a minute or two.
- Combine toasted pine nuts, with toasted coriander and cumin seeds in a mortar and pestle along with a little fresh cracked pepper, pinch of salt and a drizzle of good quality olive oil. Grind until it just comes together. Check seasoning for s&p.
- Serve soup with a dollop of thyme cream and sprinkle of the nut spice blend. We also like to add a few drops of good balsamic vinegar. Yum!
- Preparation time: 10
- Cook time: 50 mostly unattended
- Total time: 1 hour
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