fennel and tomato soup

As with most of these culinary adventures, l’m coming to these flavours and ideas for the first time in the act of putting them together. Here I made the assumption that the title listed two ingredients and therefore these would be the defining characteristics. The title could well be renamed to include the words purée and potato.

It seems odd to ‘sweat’ cubes of potato the way you might say an onion or pepper. It takes on a pallor and exudes a starchy goopiness into the onion and fennel. Tinned tomatoes and stock are added then later the whole lot is puréed until smooth resulting in a thick red soup.

Anthony suggests adding a drop of Pernod at the end. When revisiting this recipe I would heed that call as the aniseed flavour really mellows with cooking. Perhaps fennel leaves would do just as well? This soup seemed just as good the next day, so would suit preparation in advance, and it seemed to me while I ate it that a course of juicy steak would follow it well. Perhaps Faux-Filet au Beurre Rouge?