Asparagus and Fennel Soup
Asparagus and Fennel Soup
Spring time means fresh asparagus time. I’ve been waiting to make Ina Garten’s Asparagus and Fennel Soup as soon as asparagus was in season. I always wished I could dedicate space in my garden for this perennial vegetable. But with limited space, I have to rely on what I can get at the farmers market and my local grocer. This week the stores are overflowing with affordable bundles of one of my favorite veggies.
As I was in the check out lane with my ingredients, the woman behind me asked, “What is that stuff”? She was referring to the two bulbs of fennel I had purchased with their long, flowy fennel fronds. I did my best to describe the flavor as very mild licorice. I also explained how common it is to use fresh fennel in Italian cooking. I’m sure I provided her way more information that she ever wanted…I am always excited to talk about food with anyone who asks. When you combine fresh fennel with the asparagus, leeks and onions it makes an aromatic base for soups and sauces.
This soup recipe marks the 35th dish that I’ve replicated from Ina Garten’s cookbook, Cooking for Jeffrey. Of course I never expected to like all of them equally. To be honest this one was a slight disappointment until I made some modifications to get the full flavor we like. One big modification is adding a lot of kosher salt at the end. The recipe only asks for 2 teaspoons of salt. I found this very unusual as Ina really seems to be generous with salt in most of her other recipes. However, she does recommend adjusting for seasoning at the very end of cooking. I found that I had to add a lot more salt, a couple tablespoons of butter and 1/2 cup of shredded, fresh parmesan cheese to get the depth of flavor we are used to having in a soup.
Another tip, select a large stockpot. The recipe calls for you to saute over 10 cups of veggies! You don’t want to brown them. Rather, you’ll need to sweat them down for 20 minutes until very tender. Take the time to spend the full 20 minutes getting them super tender. Doing this will allow you to puree them more easily at the end.
Speaking of pureeing – while you can use a blender or food processor for the job, using a hand held immersion blender is the way to go. So little to clean up afterwards. You can find very affordable immersion blenders in most home goods stores.
While Ina’s original recipe says this serves 6 to 8…I would count on 8 to 10 servings for a meal that included a side salad and/or sandwich. Click here for a link to the recipe.
