roasted tomato soup with fennel and orange

We are bursting at the seams with tomatoes. Another light summer soup seems in order.  This one with roasted tomatoes.  Roasting makes tomatoes super easy to peel and core.  They can be roasted in the oven or on  the grill.  About 20 minutes yield tomatoes with blackened skins and cores that are easy to pluck out with your fingers.  Let them cool for a few minutes, then pluck off the skins, pluck out the cores, and add the juices that have accumulated in the pan into a sauce pan to reduce.  After about five minutes, add the tomatoes, and a finely shaved head of fennel, reserving a few of the wispy fronds of fennel for garnish.

soup at its most simple and seasonal

Once the tomatoes have reduced and the fennel is tender, turn off the heat, add in the zest and juice from a small orange, and salt and pepper to taste.  Blend it up in a blender to smooth it out, or better yet, just go at it with an immersion blender right in the pot.

a most handy tool, like a portable blender

Put a cheese sandwich on the grill, and prepare for summer heaven, ready in just 30 minutes.  Throw the leftovers in the fridge and serve cold as an appetizer with some diced cucumber and herbs on top at your next dinner party.  Heavenly, and ever so light on the palate.

the smooth flavor of garden tomatoes, accented

with the licorice of fennel, and the citrus punch of orange