zucchini fennel soup

Here's another recipe to utilize the great zucchini crop of '09.

The fennel and lemon are very subtle and lovely in this. I even added a bit of the lemon water that the fennel is cooked in back into the pot with the broth (original recipe just said to toss it) and it was just lemony enough.

zucchini fennel soup

(from Food and Wine)

1 fennel bulb, cored and sliced 1/2-1/4" thick

2 Tbs fresh lemon juice

Olive oil

4-5 zucchini, sliced crosswise 1-4" thick

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, smashed

4 C chicken or veggie stock

Salt and pepper

In large saucepan, put fennel, lemon juice, pinch of salt, and add just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until fennel is tender when pierced (about 10-15 mins). Drain off water. (Reserve a bit of the lemon water if you'd like.)

In same pot, heat olive oil and saute onion and garlic for a few minutes. Add zucchini, season with salt, and saute over moderate heat, stirring occasionally until just softened (10 mins or so.) Add stock, lemon water if using, and cooked fennel and bring to a boil. Simmer until vegetables have softened completely (another 10 mins.)

Remove from heat. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender. Return soup to the pot, reheat/season if necessary. Ladle into serving bowls. Garnish with croutons, a bit of sour cream or creme fraiche, or fennel fronds.

*I'm trying to see how freezing zucchini works for me this year -- I have some grated for zucchini bread, but I'm thinking I should slice some as well to have at the ready for this soup.