Creamy Fennel Soup with Pumpkin Seed Pesto, Roasted Fennel, and Shredded Chicken
A silky, gently sweet soup of fennel, leeks, and a little potato for body, topped with a vibrant parsley-basil pumpkin seed pesto, caramelized roasted fennel, and tender shredded chicken. It's comforting, nourishing, and a perfect way to use leftover roast chicken.
Yield: Serves 4 · Active: 25 min · Total: 50 min · Best in North America from fall through early spring, when fennel and leeks are at their sweetest · Best eaten: midday or early evening
Ingredients
Soup
2 tbsp grass-fed butter or extra virgin olive oil
2 large fennel bulbs, sliced (save the fronds)
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced and well rinsed
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 small Yukon Gold potato, peeled and cubed (for a creamy body without flour)
4 cups chicken bone broth
1 tsp Baja Gold sea salt, plus more to taste
2–3 tbsp heavy cream (optional)
Squeeze of fresh lemon
Pumpkin seed pesto
⅓ cup raw pumpkin seeds, toasted
½ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
½ cup fresh basil (or more parsley in winter)
1 small garlic clove
Zest and juice of ½ lemon
2 tbsp grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (optional)
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
To finish
1 fennel bulb, cut into thin wedges
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt
2 cups shredded cooked chicken (leftover roast chicken, or 2 breasts poached in the soup broth)
Method
Roast the fennel wedges. Heat the oven to 425°F. Toss the wedges with the olive oil and salt and roast 20–25 minutes, until caramelized.
Build the soup. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the sliced fennel and leeks with a pinch of salt and cook gently 10–12 minutes, until very soft and sweet but not browned. Add the garlic for 1 minute.
Simmer. Add the potato, broth, and salt and simmer 15–20 minutes, until everything is completely tender. No leftover chicken? Poach 2 chicken breasts in the simmering soup for 15–18 minutes (to 165°F), then remove and shred them before blending.
Blend until silky smooth (work in batches and vent the lid). Stir in the optional cream and lemon, then taste and adjust the salt.
Make the pesto. Pulse the toasted pumpkin seeds, parsley, basil, garlic, lemon zest and juice, Parmigiano, and salt in a food processor, then stream in the olive oil until loose.
Serve. Ladle the soup into warm bowls and top with shredded chicken, roasted fennel wedges, a spoonful of pumpkin seed pesto, and fennel fronds.
Storage: Soup, up to 5 days refrigerated or 3 months frozen (without toppings); pesto, up to 5 days (press wrap onto its surface); roasted fennel and chicken, up to 4 days.
Nourishment Notes
Fennel — anethole, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber; it's traditionally used to ease bloating.
Leeks — prebiotic fibers and kaempferol.
Chicken bone broth — gelatin, glycine, and minerals.
Pasture-raised chicken — complete protein and B vitamins.
Pumpkin seeds — zinc, magnesium, and iron.
Parsley and basil — vitamin K, apigenin, and eugenol.
For your cycle: Fennel has long been used to ease menstrual bloating and discomfort, and pumpkin seeds' zinc and magnesium make this soup supportive in the follicular and luteal phases.
Sourcing
Fennel, leeks, potato, garlic, parsley, basil, and lemons — organic, from a farmers' market
Chicken — pasture-raised, from a local farm raising birds on pasture, or White Oak Pastures
Pumpkin seeds — organic and raw
Chicken bone broth — homemade from pasture-raised chicken, or Bonafide Provisions (organic, sold frozen)
Heavy cream (optional) — raw from a local dairy, or organic, grass-fed cream (Kalona SuperNatural)
Parmigiano-Reggiano (optional) — DOP, aged 24+ months, made from raw milk by law
Grass-fed butter — organic, cultured butter from 100% grass-fed cows
Extra virgin olive oil — organic, single-estate, harvest-dated, in dark glass
Baja Gold sea salt
— Anna aka Food Marshall