Meatless Monday - Roasted Fennel and Carrot Soup with Flatbreads
Many years ago I read Bella Tuscany by Fraces Mayes. You may know her name from the movie or book Under the Tuscan Sun. Both books are memoirs of her journey into home ownership and life in Italy. One thing I remember distinctly about Bella Tuscany was her disruption of the fragrance of roasting fennel. A good author, when describing food, will always make me have cravings. After reading the book I fell in love with roasted fennel. Yes, it tastes as delicious as it smells.
Ingredients:
1 pound carrots, peeled, trimmed and sliced
2 bulbs of fennel, trimmed and sliced, tops reserved to serve
1 onion, sliced
Olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
6 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup cream, to serve
FOR THE FLATBREADS
1 tsp fennel seeds
3 cups bread flour
1/2 tsp fast-action dried yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for shaping
Directions:
Put the carrots, fennel and onion in a roasting dish and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, then add the garlic cloves. Stir everything thoroughly and return to the oven for 20 minutes more, until the vegetables are soft and browned. Remove the papery skins from the garlic cloves.
Put the roasted veggies in a large pan with the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Simmer gently for 15 minutes, then liquify with a stick blender, until completely smooth.
Next make the flatbreads. Toast the fennel seeds in a dry frying pan for 30 seconds or so, until fragrant. Crush roughly with a pestle and mortar, then pour into a bowl with the flour and ½ teaspoon of salt. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in 1/2 cup of hot but not boiling water, then add it to the flour mixture with the oil and 1/4 cup of hot water and mix until you have a soft, but not sticky, dough, add more water a little at a time if you need it to create the correct consistency. Knead for 5 minutes.
Pop the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and set aside to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Then, with oiled hands, divide the dough into 8 pieces and roughly roll each one into a thin oval. Stack them up, separating them with parchment paper to stop them from sticking together.
Heat a griddle pan until it’s smoking hot and add the flatbreads (you’ll need to do this in batches). Cook for a couple of minutes on each side, until charred and puffed up. Keep warm in a tea towel while cooking the rest.
Gently reheat the soup, and serve with a swirl of cream, a scattering of fennel tops and the hot flatbreads.
Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery by Lori Buff
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| Roasted Fennel and Carrot Soup with Flatbreads |
Ingredients:
1 pound carrots, peeled, trimmed and sliced
2 bulbs of fennel, trimmed and sliced, tops reserved to serve
1 onion, sliced
Olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
6 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup cream, to serve
FOR THE FLATBREADS
1 tsp fennel seeds
3 cups bread flour
1/2 tsp fast-action dried yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for shaping
Directions:
Put the carrots, fennel and onion in a roasting dish and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, then add the garlic cloves. Stir everything thoroughly and return to the oven for 20 minutes more, until the vegetables are soft and browned. Remove the papery skins from the garlic cloves.
Put the roasted veggies in a large pan with the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Simmer gently for 15 minutes, then liquify with a stick blender, until completely smooth.
Next make the flatbreads. Toast the fennel seeds in a dry frying pan for 30 seconds or so, until fragrant. Crush roughly with a pestle and mortar, then pour into a bowl with the flour and ½ teaspoon of salt. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in 1/2 cup of hot but not boiling water, then add it to the flour mixture with the oil and 1/4 cup of hot water and mix until you have a soft, but not sticky, dough, add more water a little at a time if you need it to create the correct consistency. Knead for 5 minutes.
Pop the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and set aside to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Then, with oiled hands, divide the dough into 8 pieces and roughly roll each one into a thin oval. Stack them up, separating them with parchment paper to stop them from sticking together.
Heat a griddle pan until it’s smoking hot and add the flatbreads (you’ll need to do this in batches). Cook for a couple of minutes on each side, until charred and puffed up. Keep warm in a tea towel while cooking the rest.
Gently reheat the soup, and serve with a swirl of cream, a scattering of fennel tops and the hot flatbreads.
Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery by Lori Buff
your soup looks so delicious, I could spoon some up right now; I just bought some fennel and leeks to make soup yesterday. years ago I used to make a really wonderful bread Swedish rye bread with fennel and anise seeds and orange rind and molasses, oh I remember the fragrance of it cooking in the oven, yummy.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds delicious.
DeleteHA! Funny, I am making that soup myself this week...and aybe the rest of my life...after a gardening friend gave us a fridge full of carrots last Sunday!
ReplyDeletelooks tasty, I am pinning this one for later!
ReplyDelete