Watch How to Cook Well at Christmas with Rory O'Connell Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd of December at 6.30pm on RTÉ One.
Ingredients
Serves 6
- 25g butter
- Level teaspoon fennel seeds, roasted and finely ground
- 110g onions, peeled and diced
- 140g potatoes, peeled and diced
- 120g leek, washed and sliced
- 350g celery finely, finely sliced
- 1.2 litres chicken or vegetable stock, boiling
- Creamy milk, i.e. milk and cream mixed in equal proportion
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Croutons
- 6 large of 12 small slices of baguette, toasted or fried in olive oil until golden
- 75g cashel blue cheese
- 25g dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped dill
- To serve
- A drizzle of cream
- 1 teaspoon of chopped dill
Method
- Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan and allow to foam. Add the ground fennel, onion, potato, leek and celery and season with salt and pepper. Toss everything in the butter and cover with a disc of grease-proof paper and the saucepan lid.
- Cook over a very gentle heat for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are starting to break down slightly. Add in the hot stock and bring to a simmer. Cover and continue cooking until the vegetables are all completely tender.
- Puree immediately with a hand held blender or liquidizer to achieve a smooth consistency. Correct the thickness of the soup with a little creamy milk. Taste and correct seasoning.
- Mash the blue cheese with the cream and add the cranberries and dill. Butter the croutons with this mixture.
- Reheat the soup. Serve in heated bowls, garnished with a drizzle of cream and a pinch of dill.
- Pass the croutons separately.
