Ingredients
- 6 small fennel bulbs, stalks removed, halved lengthwise
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 bunch fresh thyme sprigs, leaves stripped from the stem
- 1 pound white button mushrooms, wiped of grit and coarsely chopped
- 1 pound oyster mushrooms, wiped of grit and coarsely chopped
- 1 pound chanterelle mushrooms, wiped of grit and coarsely chopped
- 1 pound cooked chestnuts
- 3 quarts chicken stock
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- Fresh chopped chives, for garnish
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Put the fennel halves, cut-side up, in a baking dish and drizzle with enough olive oil to come up half-way; season with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes or until completely tender – the roasted fennel is the base of the soup, so it's important the flesh is soft enough to be cut with a spoon.
In a large pot, melt the butter over medium flame; add the onion and garlic, saute for 4 minutes until translucent. Toss the thyme into the pan, along with the mushrooms; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for 10 to 15 minutes, until the mushrooms give off their liquid. Add the chestnuts and cook for a few more minutes until they have some nice color on them. Remove about 1 cup of the mixture to save as a garnish for the soup.
Pour the stock into the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes, stirring now and then. Remove from the heat and puree the soup until completely smooth, using a handheld or regular blender. Stir in the cream to make the soup even richer, and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper.
To serve: Ladle the soup into soup bowls; garnish each serving with a bit of the reserved mushrooms and chestnuts, the roasted fennel, and a sprinkle of chopped chives.
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By lmower_5461719
Charleston, SC
on April 26, 2007
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This was absolutely delicious. It was a tad time consuming since I don't own a food processor or emersion blender so I had to work small batches in my regular blender but the texture was smooth and creamy.
To help with some confusion, when Tyler refers to chestnuts, he's not talking water chestnuts but rather the French chestnuts which look like little brown brains and come in jars sold at places like William Sonoma, but I?ve even found it in my local grocery store. Also what you do with the fennel is add it to the soup at the end as a garnish. That's why it says that it has to be roasted until tender enough to cut with a spoon.
And for the person who gave it a poor rating because it wasn?t entirely vegetarian friendly, did you try subbing in vegetable stock before rating it? Cut out the cream and the chicken stock and you have yourself a very veggie friendly recipe!
By zasmblop_6839097
Columbus, OH
on December 10, 2006
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this recipe is listed under vegetarian christmas but includes chicken stock.
By jcary520_2355139
hastings, MI
on November 16, 2006
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the recipe is unclear, so i cannot attempt it as i don't know what i am doing. when do you add the roasted fennel and are you talking roasted water chestnuts?
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