A couple of days ago I announced that I was thinking of making fennel soup for supper (we need a photograph of it for the new book).
“You should use all those veggies in the crisper,” said Meredith, in practical mood.
After years of taking a moment to understand what “crisper” meant, I now know it’s the bottom drawer of the fridge where salad and (forgotten) vegetables are stored.
It still sounds odd to me–crisp and vegetable?
“Any road”–as Aunt Mary used to say–I found a treasure trove of useable vegetables.
MINESTRONE!
So…
I chopped into small dice:
2 carrots
2 small celery sticks
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
and sweated these over a low heat for a good half hour or longer in
3 tbsp olive oil
I then added:
2 fennel bulbs–outer casings removed and chopped into larger dice
more celery–similarly chopped
more carrots–similarly chopped
a handful of mini onions–peeled and halved
some cauliflower florets
Then I spooned in 3 tbsp cooked white beans, from a jar preferably (I prefer them to tinned/canned),
tucked in a small bouquet of parsley and bay and a piece of parmesan rind (I happened to have one to hand!)
I poured in 1 1/2 pints of stock–in this case made from organic vegetable cubes,
and seasoned well with freshly ground black pepper and a teaspoon of salt.
Brought this up to the boil, turned down the heat to low and simmered it for an hour.
Then I added a handful of green beans–escapees that were loitering in the crisper–snapped in half–and 2 medium courgettes–the last from the garden, sliced.
Cooked all this on until these last were tender.
Served it with a swirl of best olive oil and grated parmesan.
(The crisper promoter showed her approval by having thirds.)
This looks amazing. Thank you. Inspirational as always. I must check the “crisper” chez nous tomorrow …
I am intrigued by the parmesan rind. Does this melt into the soup or do you need to fish it out at the end?
Best wishes to you and the “crisper promoter”. A winning team in every way!
Tina
Good point, Tina–fish it out!
Looks Good Robin !!
my favorite kind of cooking… whatever is at hand… being part Italian[ by marriage] I’d throw in some tomatoes too, and a bit of small pasta!
Hi, Robin! This sounds good–a different version of a favorite of ours on these chilly nights! (We may see a few flakes of snow on Sunday, and the kids need to bundle up in their costumes tomorrow night.) I’ve never used cauliflower, zukes or fennel in mine, but my dear Aunt Cecile used the other veggies, plus turnips–a nice addition, I think–plus a handful of spaghetti (instead of beans), a little oregano, and a jar of spaghetti sauce & veggie stock as the base. She was never big on actual amounts–just “a handful of this & that”–kinda like my Memere’s recipes–only THOSE were written in French! I’ll have to try it your way next time–less carbs, I think?? I like the “fridge clean-out” idea, too! 🙂
Cheers & Happy Halloween!
Looks and sounds delicious
Yum
Sounds delicious and something my mother would have made.
Love fennel but never used it in a soup, so here goes!
It’s such fun to make a meal or dish out of what’s in the pantry /fridge.
Hey, anything to keep the wine flowing, my friend!!!
Hi. Love the crisper story my husband used to say “is it cold enough now can we throw it out”. Another friend of mine used to say the cucumber is wearing a wet suit and the capsicum is wearing mink!,
Kind regards
Megan
Hi Robin, love your books. I will certainly try this. I must say I am a great fan of making soup with leftovers. We call it ‘stone soup’ after the children’s story, when the the hero apparently made soup with a stone except it just needed one potato etc, etc. I expect you know the story.
I don’t but it sounds charming. I’ll check it out–thanks.
I will take all the fennel recipes I can get and this one looks delicious. Love the photo of you and the finished product.
Hi Mary–thanks!
Thank you Robin for your wonderful recipes . I also find your news uplifting. Thank you for continuing to include me on your email list. Best wishes to you and Meredith. Helen. ( Toowoomba Australia ) Ps In my opinion ” The Poldarks ” was the best production the BBC has ever done.
Thanks Helen.
You’ve learned what a crisper is, so can you please tell me what I’ve been too embarrassed to ask…what is a courgette? Is it like our zucchini?
Yes, Maureen, it IS a zucchini!
Nice recipe- must admit I frequently plunder the ” crisper” for ingredients for soup, stir fries or oven baked vegetables.
As teenagers my now adult kids called the crisper “the compost bin”, or home of lost vegetables. I often make dishes out of whatever is in the crisper, your soup sounds great. I too have blue checked cloths in the bottom of my crisper, it looks like the same fridge too! (Your Poldark is still my favourite series, I often watched it in the 70s while soothing crying babies – sweet memories).
Thanks, Rhonda. Compost bin is often accurate!