By Chef Faisal – Prep Time: 1 hour – Cook Time: 20 mins – Serves 1

Light, fragrant and beautifully smooth, this elegant fennel soup is delicate in flavour yet comforting in texture.

Ingredients

For the Vegetable Stock

  • 350ml water
  • 15g carrot
  • 20g celery sticks
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 20g white onion

For the Fennel Soup

  • 20g butter
  • 100g fennel
  • 20g white onion, sliced
  • 1 tsp chopped garlic
  • ¼ tsp fennel seeds
  • 300ml vegetable stock
  • 40ml cooking cream
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • ½ tsp white pepper
  • 10g spinach
  • ½ tsp sugar

To Serve

  • 250ml creamy fennel soup
  • 2 fennel fronds
  • 10ml cooking cream
  • A pinch of sumac

Method

Vegetable Stock

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer gently over a low heat for 1 hour. Strain and set aside.

Fennel Soup

Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat and sauté the fennel, garlic, spinach and onion until translucent. Add the remaining ingredients, except the cream, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and blend until smooth. Strain well, stir in the cream and cook for a further 2 minutes.

For Plating

Pour the hot soup into a bowl. Finish with a swirl of cream, a dusting of sumac and a garnish of fresh fennel fronds.