Roasted Tomato Fennel Soup

We are a couple of weeks into the grape harvest here in the Moselle region. Farm machinery is encountered on the roads but luckily here, on the German side at least, they tend to move over to allow people to pass where possible. The road along the Moselle has a lot of turns and twists making it difficult to pass.

The mornings here have been very foggy and cool. So between the fog of the mornings and the major financial crisis, I have been thinking about comfort food in the form of soup. What could be better than vegetable soup to give the vitamins and minerals to survive the day?

I made a pot of Roasted Tomato Fennel soup. Roasting the vegetables give a more robust flavour. The end product looks like carrot soup but I can assure you that it tastes nothing like that. The wonderful anise flavour of the fennel marries well with the tomatoes. For an extra anise flavour you could add a touch of Pernod just before serving.

Oven Roasted Fennel and Tomato Soup
Serves 2

1 fennel bulb, cored and roughly chopped
3 tomatoes, quartered
1 carrot, roughly chopped
500 mL (2 cups) chicken or vegetable stock
Salt
Olive oil
Gremolata*

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
Roughly chop vegetables, place on a baking tray; drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
Oven roast for approx. 10-15 minutes or until vegetables have softened. Place vegetables in a pot, add stock and simmer for 8-10 minutes; blend into a creamy soup.
Serve hot, drizzled with olive oil. Garnish with gremolata.

*Gremolata
15 mL (1 Tbsp) fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, sliced
Lemon peel
Combine the ingredients on a chopping board and mince finely.