Pureed Butternut and Fennel Soup

Pureeing fennel, leeks, and butternut squash give this soup a rich creamy texture while the absence of cream or other dairy keeps it light and airy. This would even be good as a cold soup on a hot day, or could be used as a sauce for light proteins such as chicken or goat. To use as a sauce, just use less stock to thin it with. Although the recipe looks longish, it really is simple and fairly quick, and does not require a lot of attention.

INGREDIENTS:

4-5 heaping cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice

2 medium heads fennel, trimmed and cleaned and cut into ¼-inch dice, 1 cup loose-packed fronds reserved*, stalks used for something else

2 medium leeks, white and palest green parts only, thinly sliced and washed

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

½ tablespoon fennel seeds, dry toasted until fragrant and then powdered

Salt and pepper to taste

Grape seed or light flavored olive oil, as needed

1 cup dry white wine, such as grenache blanc, verdelho, chenin blanc, etc.

1 quart light flavored vegetable stock or water

White balsamic or white wine vinegar if needed

Optional- Fennel oil (see recipe on website), pumpkin seed oil, fennel pollen

METHOD:

Drizzle squash cubes with oil and toss to coat.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. When hot, film the pan with oil and heat until shivering in the pan. Add the squash and cook, turning and tossing as need to prevent burning. Cook until squash is aromatic and golden. Transfer to a soup pot.

Make sure there is still oil in the pan. If not, add some. Lower heat to medium, then add the fennel dice to the pan and toss to coat with oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until fennel is softening, being careful not to color the fennel.

Once the fennel has started to soften, add the leeks to the pan and toss to combine. If the pan seems dry, add a little more oil. Season with a little more salt and pepper. Cook, without coloring or scorching, until the vegetables are very soft. Make a well in the center and add oil if necessary, then add the garlic. Cook until soft.

Transfer all the ingredients in the pan to the soup pot with the squash, and place on the hot burner. When the pot is hot and the vegetables start to sizzle, season them with a healthy pinch of fennel seed powder and then add the wine. Cook until the wine has reduced 80%. Add the stock and bring to a vigorous simmer. Reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender.

Use a wand mixer or blender and pureé soup until absolutely smooth. (When blending hot ingredients, be very careful. Only fill the blender part way, start on the slowest speed, and cover the top with a towel. I have seen chefs turn the blender on high first thing and they have burned themselves and gotten soup all over the kitchen as it came blasting out under the blender top as it expands from the heat.)

Taste for balance. If the soup seems flat, a dash of vinegar may be what you need. Take some soup out and put into a cup, and try adding vinegar into the cup to get an idea if vinegar is needed and how much before adding it to the whole pot. A little more fennel powder or salt and pepper may do it as well. If the soup is too thin for your taste, simmer gently for a while, stirring and scraping the bottom to prevent scorching. When ready to serve, ladle into pre-heated bowls. Garnish with a drizzle of fennel oil or pollen if you wish, a few drops of pumpkin seed oil and a dusting of fennel powder. Add a smallish pouf of fennel frond and serve.

Chef’s Notes: *When selecting fennel fronds, go for larger clumps so the fronds will stand up on the soup. Fennel pollen may be purchased or harvested from roadside fennel plants (Try to find plants growing on little used roads where no activities occur that could taint the plants.) To harvest, tie clumps of flowers together and place heads in a paper sack tied around the stems below the flowers. Wait for the flowers to dry, then shake like mad. Strain through a fine screen and off you go. To serve this as a cold soup or sauce, you want to up the flavors. When cold, you “lose” around 30% of the flavor (or, in other words, the cold muffles 30% of the flavor of a dish, so turn it up.) As a sauce, you will be working with the item you are saucing, so turn it up a little so the sauce will be tasted clearly and it can also better benefit whatever it is dressing. Poaching chicken in the stalks and fronds of the fennel would be a good way to go, or use fennel powder as a marinade/rub and roast or grill the protein over the stalks of the fennel.

Serves: 4

Source: Chef Andrew E Cohen