Vegan Tomato and Fennel Soup Recipe

Tomato and Fennel Soup for Vegans

Fennel reminds me of my nephew Harvey who came to stay with us last Christmas. Over his visit we drank copious amounts of fennel tea which he professed to loving. I told him it always reminded me of him as he used to drink it as a baby. It was quite common back then to give older babies fennel juice to help with digestion. Isn’t it marvellous that he enjoys it so much now? Yet had no idea he had had it as a baby.

Fennel also used to scare me, I have to admit because I had no idea what to do with its peculiar taste. Over the lockdown in the UK I became a lot braver with vegetables and began playing around with Fennel. This soup is ideal, it has the perfect balance of sweet and sour.

Fennel is also good for you. (C’mon who guessed?) It’s proclaimed to help your heart health, fight inflammation, and a host of other ailments, this is due to its high mineral content, and the fact we largely overlook minerals in our western diets. Find lots of potassium, Vitamin C, A, Selenium, and Zinc.

Okay, the recipe..

You will need:

1/2 onion

1 Fennel bulb, cut into chunks, (fronds put aside)

10 tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 can chopped tomoatoes

1 vegan stock cube mixed with 1-2 pints of water

2tsp Garlic powder

2 tsp smoked paprika

How to make:

Cut the tomatoes and put them into a roasting dish, sprinkle with olive oil and 1tsp oregano, 1tsp garlic powder and 1 tsp paprika. Pop in the oven for 25 minutes. Gently fry 1/2 onion, and add in the fennel, fry gentle until it begins to soften. add in 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp garlic powder. stir to coat everything in the spices. Add in the roasted tomatoes, and the juice from the roasting pan. Add the can of tomatoes, tomato puree, the stock cube and enough boiling water to cover all of the vegetables. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Then remove from he heat and blend with your choice of blender. Enjoy hot with crusty bread!