I have always wanted to do something with fennel. The bulbs are beautiful at the farmer’s market and the fragrance is a pleasant reminder of licorice. I found a recipe for fennel and potato soup which looked easy and adapted it to my taste! You can save the ferny tops and use them to flavor just about anything!
Potato and Fennel Soup
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 large fennel bulb (about 2 pounds), chopped
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and sliced
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup milk
- 1 clove of garlic
1) In a Dutch oven, coat the bottom with olive oil and place it over medium heat. Add the fennel, garlic, and onion. Saute until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.
2) Stir in the potatoes, chicken broth, milk, and salt and pepper. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Once they have softened I used a potato masher to mash-up most of the fennel and potato. The recipe calls to blend it but I don’t have an immersion blender and its messy to use a counter top blender. Plus, I like the rustic look and taste of having some large pieces of potato and fennel bulb in the soup.
3) Ladle into individual bowls and garnish with a few fennel leaves. Serve immediately.
The fennel added a sweetness to the usual potato soup flavor. I served the soup with sides of curried chickpeas and potatoes, and rice with zucchini and carrots.
I made buttermilk dill biscuits, too! (recipe will be posted later).
Adapted from http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/recipes/potatofennel-soup/RCP-20049814
xxx
Arthur in the Garden! 
oh buttermilk dill biscuits – today I made a red lentil soup and thought that butttemilk biscuits would work really well sadly the recipe I had called for vegetable shortening which I don’t ever have in the house, could have used butter I suppose, so ended up eating the soup with runny gorgonzola cheese and oatmeal biscuits. Not bad but buttermilk biscuits, and yours look heavenly, would have been so much better!
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I kneed and folded the biscuits several times to make layers and I sprinkled dill inbetween the layers. Brushed them with buttermilk and butter, too! Yum!
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yep they look divine – great with the layers did you use butter or lard? cannot wait for the recipe!
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Butter!
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everything is better with butter 🙂
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Good use of the fennel!
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Thanks!
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I am a big fennel lover too! A lovely easy peasy tasty soup,…yummm!
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I agree!
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😉
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I make potato soup a lot but I’ve never used fennel, I’ll have to try it next time. Looking forward to the dill biscuits recipe!
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I never cared much for licorice, but I’ve never had fennel.
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That is what most literature descibes the taste. I don’t like licorice, either, but I don’t know what else to compair the fragrance? 🙂
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That’s what it smells like to me too.
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Yum, sounds good. You can also cut off the end of that fennel bulb and regrown another–just like an onion.
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I love fennel! It has such great flavor. And I’m one that doesn’t like licorice either, like others who’ve commented. Great soup – thanks.
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Thanks!
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How fun! I don’t think I’ve ever cooked fennel– I like it so much raw that it generally doesn’t make much further than the route from the cutting board to my mouth. I once had a cat that adored the greenery, though, so much I couldn’t leave it out on the counter or else the otherwise trained to stay off table/counter cat would join me.
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Fennel is one of my very favorite veg. I like it cooked and raw. Try roasting it in the oven with some cauliflower. Delicious!
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Thanks for the tip!
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I do like fennel, and licorice for that matter!, but never tried it in a soup. So easy to do this recipe Arthur! Will try it next winter. It’s 98º right now here, so no soup…
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I’ll have to try that.
I love fennel raw or cooked. You can bake it with chicken or fish, I just slice it thinly with a bit of lemon and pepper. It can also add a nice touch to a desert such as a fruit crumb, but only if it is chopped finely so it adds the flavour without too much crunch.
I usually add the green bits to salad.
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