Fennel Potato Leek Soup

I love potato soup.  Love.  LOVE.  So I have started the search for the perfect homemade potato soup.    This first attempt was made in the slow cooker and was pretty simple.  (You know how much I love my slow cooker.)  I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, and while it was good, it wasn’t perfect.

As you can probably tell from the title, it has an interesting flavor, mainly from the fennel. This was my first time using fennel and I actually had to google how to prep fennel. I found it to be pretty easy and it ended up going smoothly.  I had to laugh today when I was at the store, buying fennel for another recipe I’m making later this week.  The man behind me asked what it was and how to prepare it.  It was cool to sound so knowledgeable!

But back to the soup.  This soup is a little thinner than I like.  The fennel flavor comes through, though it’s not too strong.  It was fun to try a new ingredient and experiment with some new flavors, but this soup isn’t the perfect potato soup.  The search continues!

Fennel Potato Leek Soup

Serves 2

Stuff you need:

• Large leek, trimmed, thinly sliced, and cleaned
• 1/2 c. diced fresh fennel
• 2 large russet potatoes
• 2 Tbsp. fresh Italian parsley
• 4 c. vegetable broth (or chicken brother or water)
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• salt
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 c. low fat milk (omit milk and add 2 extra cups of broth/water)

What to do with that stuff:

1. Place the leek, fennel, potatoes, and parsley in the slow cooker.
2. Add broth, just to cover.
3. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 to 6 hours, until potatoes are tender.
4. Using handheld immersion blender, puree soup.
5. Sprinkle in cayenne pepper, add salt to taste, and swirl in butter.
6. Stir in the milk.
7. Serve immediately.
8. We sprinkled crispy bacon and cheese on top as well!

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