Onion and Fennel Bisque

Submitted by jenpalombi

"from Gourmet Magazine, December 2003. Very rich - small servings are quite appropriate. The use of FF half and half reduces it to a mere 1 WW point per serving."

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 leek, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 1 large red onion, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
• 1⁄4 lb fennel bulb, stalks discarded and bulb cored and chopped (1/2 to 3/4 cup)
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1⁄8 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1⁄2 cup water
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 dash freshly grated nutmeg
• 1⁄2 cup fat-free half-and-half

directions

1. Wash leeks well in a bowl of cold water, then lift out and drain well.
2. Cook onions, leeks, fennel, and garlic in butter in a heavy pot over moderate heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 15 minutes.
3. Add wine and boil, uncovered, until evaporated, about 1 minute. Add stock, water, salt, pepper, and nutmeg and simmer, uncovered, until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
4. Stir in half and half and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened and liquid is reduced to about 3 cups, about 15 minutes.
5. Purée soup in batches in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids), then transfer to a soup tureen.

Reviews

[Vlada]

I had much more fennel than the recipe asked for, about 1lb, and wanted to use it all. As a result, the bisque was a bit thick and I added more stock (chicken stock), and I also needed a bit more salt. I also did not have fat-free half-and-half, so I went by recommendation on resipezaar and made the mixture by using milk and melted butter. So my bisque was probably richer than yours, but you can't spoil a soup by adding butter, so the end result was very good! Thank you!

 

[A la Carte]

I'm so happy I found this recipe! I just made it for my lunch and it is fantastic! It takes just minutes to throw together and smells great while it's simmering. My only regret is that I didn't double or triple the recipe, because I would like to have a big pot of it left for the rest of the week! Thank you for posting HollyGolightly! (Oh, and with only 1 ww pt, how can you go wrong?!).