THIS SOUP IS BEAUTIFUL, FRESH AND DELICIOUS! It is vegetarian and can be made vegan by omitting the cream and beurre manie and substituting a cornstarch or arrowroot slurry. Photographs: Nicole St. John Hamborsky.
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- ¼ cup Spanish onion, small dice
- 1 cup fennel, large dice, some fennel fronds reserved for garnish
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 cups yellow tomatoes, large dice
- 10 saffron threads
- ½ cup vegetable stock
- 2 teaspoons butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons flour
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper, fresh ground
- croutons
- fresh fennel leaf
- fresh or dehydrated tomato slices
Instructions
Place olive oil and coriander seeds in a heavy-gauge stainless steel saucepan and cook over medium heat until you can smell the oils being released from the coriander, approximately 2 minutes.
Add onion and fennel next and sweat until tender, maintaining low to medium heat. Add garlic and continue to sweat for 30 seconds to a minute. Add tomatoes and saffron threads and continue to cook until the tomatoes have softened and released all of their liquid. Add vegetable stock and bring up to a simmer.
Simmer on low, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. In a small bowl combine the flour and butter with a wire whisk to create a beurre manie. Add the beurre manie to the soup, whipping with a wire whisk to avoid any lumps. Add heavy cream, salt and pepper and continue to cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Purée using a hand blender or Vita-Prep. Add more salt and pepper to taste if desired.
To serve, ladle soup into a bowl or cup. Garnish with croutons (I prefer an Asiago-Garlic bread made at Give Thanks Bakery in Rochester), fresh fennel fronds and dehydrated yellow grape tomato slices.
