Carrot & Fennel Soup

Treacy’s Bar in Ballincollig does a great soup and half-sandwich lunchtime offering and believe me both are huge and will amply sate even large appetites.  It was there that I tasted Carrot & Fennel soup last week and just had to recreate it at home.Luckily my local SuperValu had fennel on special offer today and I duly purchased one bulb for 95c.  Would this be enough, I had no idea, as I had never cooked with fennel before.
I decided to cook this rotund vegetable much like an onion.  Stalks were chopped off as was the woody base and the remaining bulb was finely chopped.  Delicate little fern-like fronds were retained for garnishing the finished soup.
In Merchant’s Quay Shopping Centre in Cork City I recently came across Pana Bakery which has been opened for around a month.  It is so rare to walk into a bakery that has fresh-baked bread as the main offering and I picked up a delicious loaf of Green Olive & Parmesan.  Perfect for soup dipping.

Carrot & Fennel Soup:
You will need:
1 bulb fennel
1 tbsp butter
8 medium carrots
500ml vegetable stock
Method:
Cut the stalks and wooden end off the fennel bulb then finely dice.
Melt the butter over a low to medium heat, add the diced fennel, cover the saucepan and allow to sweat for a few minutes until softened.
Meanwhile peel and chop the carrots.
Add the carrots to the softened fennel and then add the vegetable stock.
Bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer for 20-30 minutes or until carrots are tender.
Use a blender (stick blenders are excellent for this job) to blend the soup.
Delicious served with crusty bread.
Enjoy.
‘Til next time, Sheila.