soup

We are having soup for dinner tonight.  This is kind of a big deal.  My man does not like soup.  It's not something I can begin to explain, and I certainly can't identify with it, but that's just how thing are.  Which is why I get excited when we stumble across a soup he actually enjoys.

The recipe is adapted from one our CSA farm sent along with a box of produce a few years ago.  I like that it isn't fussy.  You just chop everything up and throw it in a pot.  The ingredients are pretty straight-forward, too, unless you're someone who's still afraid of a pine nut.  Oh, and there's pesto--one of my favorite, non-fussy ways to really fancy up a meal.

I've never really posted a recipe before, so I hope you'll trust me and give this one a try.

Carrot-Fennel Soup with Dill Pesto

For the soup:

2 tablespoons butter

1 bunch thinly sliced carrots

2 bulbs of fennel with some of the green, ferny tops, chopped

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 1/4 teaspoons dill seed

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

For the pesto:

1 cup fresh dill, chopped

3 tablespoons pine nuts

2 tablespoons olive oil

heavy cream or creme fraiche

Melt the butter in a big soup pot over medium heat.  Add the carrots, dill, onion, and dill seed and saute for 10 minutes, or until things begin to soften a bit.  Add the stock, bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat and let things simmer for half an hour.  Transfer to a blender and puree in batches. Season with salt and pepper.

To make the pesto, either rinse out the blender or drag out a food processor and add the dill and pine nuts.  Blend until smooth and then, with the machine still running, add the olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.

To serve it up, ladle the soup into bowls and plop some pesto into the center of each one.  Splash a little cream or creme fraiche in, as well, and use a spoon to swirl the pesto and cream into the soup.

And then you eat it all up.  Enjoy!