Tomato-Fennel Soup with Absinthe

I am a tomato soup addict.  It’s one of those things that you kind of never get over once you grow from childhood to adulthood.  I’m comparing this to things like twinkies and capri-sun that were once so magical and once eaten after the age of 18 somehow is completely repulsive.  Tomato soup is not one of those items.  I could eat it all day everyday.  I actually still enjoy Campbell’s tomato soup with sandwiches made from kraft singles, which is a little embarrassing to confess.  I have to say, however, absolutely nothing beats the made-from-scratch version of tomato soup.

So creamy, tangy, and so comforting.  Just the way a good soup should be.

I’ve tried many tomato soup recipes over the years.  Like 10-15 years ago it was very trendy for many restaurants to have a tomato basil bisque on the menu.  I’m pleased that while people haven’t given up on tomato soup, they have given up constantly including heavy cream and basil in their recipes.  It just gets a little boring.  

This soup is anything but boring. It doesn’t even need a hit of butter or heavy cream to improve the flavor like many tomato soups require.

The trick?  Including fennel and absinthe.

Yes. You read that correctly.  (Read: you are not already high on absinthe just by the mere thought of using it in your family’s dinner rotation).

The idea behind the absinthe is to knock up the fennel/ anise flavor in this recipe and in my opinion takes this dish over the top.  Who’s with me?

(Disclaimer: yes I am aware at how ridiculous expensive Pernod absinthe is… and yes, I think it’s worth it. However, I would also imagine a good anise-liqueur substitute would work equally well, but I have not tested this myself).
So how can you make it so perfect and orange-y without any heavy cream you might ask?  It’s just from using onion, fennel, and garlic in addition to the tomato.  When you puree it all together it creates this perfect emulsion of vegetable flavors that is so rich on its own it’d probably be ruined by the addition of cream.

But feel free to drizzle it with fennel-infused olive oil, which I did.  You will be happy with the results.

This soup is actually incredibly easy to prepare.  It takes about an hour of cook time, but this just ensures the vegetables and tomatoes are soft and nicely stewed before pureeing.  The results are equivalent to (if not better than) upscale restaurant-style tomato soup.

Tomato-Fennel Soup with Absinthe

Adapted from New York Times

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 medium fennel bulbs cored and sliced
• 1 medium onion sliced
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 28 oz whole tomatoes with juices
• 2 ½ cups low sodium chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon chile powder kashmiri
• 3 tablespoons Pernod Absinthe
• 2 teaspoon salt divided (to taste)
• 1-2 teaspoons red wine vinegar to taste
• 1 teaspoon honey to taste

Instructions

 

• Heat olive oil in heavy-bottom non-reactive stock pot over medium- high heat. Add sliced fennel and onion along with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Saute for a few minutes and then reduce heat to medium-low, and partially cover the pot. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until onion and fennel mixture is nicely softened and golden in color.
• Add garlic and chile powder. Saute for 1-2 minutes.
• Add chicken stock and tomatoes. Bring mixture to a boil. Cover and reduce heat, letting mixture simmer for about 30 minutes or until all vegetables are very soft.
• Puree ingredients until everything is very well combined and mixture is silky smooth. You can use an immersion blender or regular blender for this step.
• Add absinthe and salt. Simmer until alcohol is cooked off.
• Add red wine vinegar and honey to taste (proportions will be dependent on how sweet or tart your tomatoes are).

Notes

For garnish- heat 1/4 cup of olive oil on medium-high heat. Add 3 teaspoons of fennel seeds. Cook until seeds begin to pop, about 1-2 minutes. Using fine mesh strainer, strain out the fennel seeds and set aside. Add salt and pepper to season fennel seeds.
Garnish soup with fennel oil drizzle, fried fennel seeds, and fennel fronds.