Sunday's Soup/Carrot and Fennel Soup With Black Olive Oil

Since I started posting soups on Sundays, we've had a lot of soups with carrots included in the ingredient list, but only 2 where carrots where the main ingredient, 

Simple Carrot Soup

Spicy Thai Carrot Peanut Soup

All of my life I have been told that carrots are good for your eyes, and believe me, I've eaten a ton. Carrots are one of my favorite afternoon snacks. My husband is forever finding the ends of carrots in the oddest places, and he always knows who left it :) 

I recently came across THIS carrot soup recipe from Sweet Paul Magazine. The addition of fennel and the black olive oil peaked my interest, so I decided to give it a try. As the soup was cooking, my husband came downstairs and said, "whatever it is you're cooking, it sure smells good." Well, it tastes as good as it smells. I basically followed the recipe, but made just a few changes which you can see below.

Carrot and Fennel Soup with Black Olive Oil

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 large potato, peeled and chopped

1 bulb fennel, chopped

5 carrots, peeled and chopped(I used 5 very large carrots)

4 cups chicken stock(I used vegetable stock)

1⁄2 cup heavy cream(I used 1 cup of coconut milk)

salt & pepper, to taste

As for the instructions, I sauteed my onions in the oil until they were tender. I then added the vegetables and the vegetable stock and cooked the vegetables in the stock until tender, about 30 minutes. Once the vegetables were tender, I used an immersible hand held blender to puree the soup. I then added the coconut milk. 

I bought really good black olives that I pitted and then placed in a small blender. I then added olive oil until I had the consistency that I desired.  
This is a soup that you can serve to the most discriminating foodie. The addition of the fennel gives the soup a rich, full bodied taste and the black olive oil laced on top makes for such a lovely soup experience. I think this is my new favorite soup! 
Enjoy!
Rhonda