Carrot Fennel Soup

Carrot Fennel Soup

As part of my recent soup frenzy, I came across this recipe and being a carrot lover could not pass up the chance of making it.  After a closer inspection, I wasn't as eager, but it was too late by that point.

I have never heard of a soup being roasted in the oven, which shows how much I know.  At the time I wanted to make this soup, my oven was being occupied by a nice little Cornish hen that was roasting slowly at 250° F and would continue to do so for a few hours longer.  Since roasting the veggies was simply out of the question, I went with an all stove top prep method.

I heated up a bit of oil in a large pot and sautéed the onions a bit.  Then I added carrots and fennel, sprinkled all with salt and pepper, and sautéed them all for a bit hoping to get some roasted flavor.  I then added 4 cups of water to the mixture and cooked the veggies until they were soft.  Then, I blended everything in two batches and added a bit more salt to taste.  I used the water I cooked the veggies in rather than adding chicken broth.

The soup had enough flavor and wasn't bland  at all.  I guess I'm not a fan of fennel as that particular taste I could have gone without.  The carrot soup looked and felt much like the butternut squash soup, but the taste was different.  I prefer the squash soup to this one.

If I were to make this again, and that's definitely an if, I would cut the quantity of fennel and compensate with more carrots.  I would probably stick with my stove top preparation method, but maybe sear the veggies a bit more.  The garnish can be left out completely as it felt like eating strands of grass.