Tomato Fennel Soup

• servings: 6 servings
• active time: 15 minutes
• total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

1 pound fennel (fronds removed)

1 pound globe tomatoes

2 large Calabrian chilies

4 garlic cloves

1 14-ounce can of white beans, any kind (drained)

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 flat packed anchovies

3 tablespoons tomato paste

Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons Better Than Bouillon vegetable base

6 cups water

8 ounces chickpea pasta

1/2 cup fresh parsley

1/2 cup yogurt, skyr or sour cream (optional, for topping)

Directions

Thinly slice the bulb of fennel, quarter the tomatoes and chop them into bite-sized pieces.

Thinly slice two Calabrian chilies and grate four garlic cloves, set aside.

Add the can of beans to a blender, add a few splashes of water and blend it into a mash. Set that aside.

Set a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 1/3 cup of olive oil and let it heat up for a few minutes.

Add three anchovies to the oil and stir to let them break apart into the oil. Add the chilies, garlic cloves and tomato paste. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the tomato paste has darkened by one shade.

Add the fennel and stir to get it coated in the tomato paste mixture. Add the tomatoes and cook for 8-9 minutes, or until the fennel is starting to sweat out and the tomatoes are getting jammy. Season with a generous pinch of salt and many cracks of black pepper.

Whisk two tablespoons of Better Than Bouillon into six cups of water. Pour that into the soup. Let this come to a simmer. Cover and reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the mashed beans and mix them into the soup. Cover and simmer another 7 minutes to let the beans melt into the soup, making it creamier.

Add the chickpea pasta to the soup, cover and let simmer another 8-10 minutes or until the pasta is cooked.

While the soup is finishing on the stove, finely chop up 1/2 cup of parsley.

Taste the soup and season with more salt and pepper as needed. Stir in half the parsley.

Portion the soup into six bowls and top each with a scoop of yogurt or sour cream, as preferred.