And after two weeks of culinary revelry between Christmas, New Year’s, and Epiphany, it’s finally back to the usual routines, those of a healthy diet, rich in vitamins and minerals that only soups and stews can provide us! So here I am offering you a really tasty and light dish, contrary to those who say or believe that eating just vegetables is sad and depressing! Just do it with imagination, combining flavors, spices, and aromas, which is what I do best! As many of you know, I am passionate about cream soups, I always prepare different ones and they are all really satisfying. Moreover, this flu has devastated me, I’m still paying the cost, so what better way than this to combat the cold January month and recover energy? The photo, I know, doesn’t do it justice, the afternoon is already dark early, but I am sure you will take my word for it if I tell you that this combination of flavors is really rich and unique! I added some ginger during cooking and croutons flavored with turmeric and ginger to reinforce the dish, all sprinkled with poppy seeds and good Sardinian or Roman pecorino cheese for the more indulgent. A detox recipe, with all the digestive and purifying qualities of fennel and the remineralizing and refreshing ones of beet, useful for heart, liver, colon, and vascular system.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients:
- 5 Fennel
- 1 Beets
- 1 Leeks
- 1 qt Vegetable broth
- 3.5 oz Greek yogurt
- 0.7 oz Fresh ginger
- 1 sprig Rosemary
- 1 bunch Parsley
- 0.7 oz Poppy seeds
- to taste Extra virgin olive oil
- to taste Black pepper
- to taste Salt
Preparation:
Clean the fennel, removing the most damaged outer leaves but not the fronds, then cut them into quarters and wash them thoroughly under running water (fig. 1).
Clean the leek and cut it into rings (including the green part). Sauté it in a large pot with a dash of oil and 2-3 tablespoons of water (fig. 2).
Drain the fennel and add them to the leek, then cover entirely with very hot vegetable broth, flavored with broken rosemary leaves (fig. 3).
Cook for about 25 minutes from the boil, adding more broth only if necessary, and grate some ginger. The fennel should be very soft. Turn off the heat, adjust with salt, remove the excess broth without discarding it, then let it cool slightly and blend with an immersion blender (fig. 4).
You should get a creamy consistency that you can thin with the reserved cooking broth if it’s too dense (fig. 5).
Meanwhile, peel the beet and cut it into quarters. In the photo, I used 3 for other preparations (fig. 6).
Boil in salted water for 30 minutes, then drain and blend with two tablespoons of cooking water. Incorporate the yogurt, season with salt and pepper (fig. 7).
Resume blending until you obtain a thick and homogeneous cream (fig. 8).
Serve the fennel cream soup very hot with a few tablespoons of the beet cream, still steaming, a drizzle of raw oil, a sprinkle of poppy seeds, and fresh parsley. I also added some croutons flavored with turmeric and ginger crumbled here and there. And voila… your fennel and beet cream soup is ready to be enjoyed!
Bon Appétit from Fefè’s kitchen!
Advice, notes, variations and suggestions
🟣For a more indulgent version, you can replace Greek yogurt with the same amount of robiola or another fresh cheese of your choice and serve everything with grated pecorino cheese. Sublime!
