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Fennel is a typical Mediterranean plant, it was already widely used by the ancient Greeks. Coincidentally, Marathon, the place where the Athenians defeated the Persians in 490 BC, in Greek means: field of fennel!
Even the Romans appreciated its healing powers, so much that Pliny the Elder highly recommended it to cure the eyes. In the Middle Ages, the fennel was used to ward off evil and invoked against the evil eye and dark sorcery.
Its main virtues are purifying for the bile and liver, it helps fight bloating, bad breath and bad digestion, stimulates the secretion of milk in nursing mothers, mainly if you prepare infusions with seeds, if you eat it the effects are milder, but it tastes much better.
Today we would like to offer you a delicious, yet easy to prepare, recipe: a cream of fennel, with mushrooms and crispy bacon. Just to make it a little more tasty and original than the usual soup, which is good always good, but by the third time in a month has become a little boring…
Ingredients to make the cream of fennel with oyster mushrooms and crispy bacon
Recipe for 4-6 people
- 2 fennel bulbs
- 2 onions
- 250 g (1 cup) of oyster mushrooms
- 8 slices of bacon
- 5 cups of chicken stock
- 4 new potatoes (average size)
- 1 cup of cream
- olive oil or butter
How to make a delicious cream of fennel with oyster mushrooms and crispy bacon
Peel, wash, and coarsely cut the onions and fennel.
Cook in fat (olive oil/butter) without browning. Add the broth and cook until the vegetables are cooked, then blend the ingredients. Pass the soup through a strainer or sieve.
Return soup to the pot: wash, peel and dice the potatoes, and add to the soup base. Cook over low heat making sure the potatoes remain firm. Add the cream at the end of cooking.
Cut the bacon slices into pieces.
And cook in a pan.
Now let’s take care of the mushrooms.
Use the same pan with the bacon fat to cook the mushrooms (previously cleaned and cut into chunks).
Serve the soup hot, adding the bacon, mushrooms and some green branches from the fennel bulb.
Suggestions
To preserve the taste of mushrooms, do not wash or peel. Simply wipe with a damp cloth and then dry, or they can also be cleaned with a brush.
Suggested wine pairings
Champagne, Prosecco or Trentodoc are perfect.
If you prefer a cocktail, Mojito is great.
Recipe courtesy of Lionel Flaget.
