Exam season has arrived and we’re swimming (drowning?) in work.  Technically, I’m already 8 minutes behind today because it’s 9:38 a.m. and I haven’t begun to study.

So it’s been more than busy, but we did find time to quickly whip up this delicious fennel soup by Dan Barber of Bluehill during a series of 15 minute breaks yesterday.  We tasted the soup a few weeks ago at the restaurant, and thought it was the best soup we’d ever tried.  Amazingly, he’s actually published the recipe online so that amateurs everywhere can pretend to be elite chefs like Mr. Barber, and then cry shallot tears into their soups when following the recipe precisely yields a clumpy glob of gray soup.

Just kidding — that was our fear, but the soup actually turned out remarkably similar!  It’s creamy for a soup with no dairy, smooth, flavorful and unique.  And though it’s simple and light for a winter soup, you’ll want so many helpings that it’s sure to fill you up.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 small shallots, minced
3 1/2 cups diced fennel, white part only, reserving green fronds for garnish
1 apple, peeled and diced
salt and ground black pepper
1 tbsp fennel seeds, crushed
4 cups vegetable stock (Mr. Barber’s recipe is online)
1/2 tsp chopped thyme

Instructions:
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large pot.  Add the onion and shallots, and sweat until translucent. Add the fennel and apple, season with salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes before adding the fennel seeds and stock, bring to a boil, and simmer for 30 minutes. Add thyme and season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a blender and purée, adding the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil. Return to saucepan and heat gently. Garnish with fennel fronds, and serve.