Carrot and Fennel Soup with Tarragon Cream

This is, quite possibly, the best soup I have ever made. 'Nuff said.

Here's the ingredients:

1 bunch carrots, peeled and chopped
2 head fennel, julienned
1 onion, julienned
3 clove garlic (not pictured because I forgot them)
2-3 cups chicken or veggie stock (not pictured because the husband had not returned from the store yet)
1/2 cup cream
1 bunch tarragon, chopped fine

To start I heated the oven to 450 degrees and lined a baking sheet with aluminum foil (the foil isn't necessary unless you're lazy like me). Once the oven was heated, I tossed the carrot with a little olive oil, salt and pepper then put them on the sheet in the hot oven to roast for 10 minutes (I just wanted to give them a little head start).

Next I tossed the onion, fennel and garlic with a little more olive oil, salt and pepper, then added them to the pan. I returned this to the oven for another 30 minutes.

While the veggies cooked I added the cream and tarragon to a blender and gave it a whiz for a few seconds. My thought was that this would chop the tarragon, but it didn't do as good a job as I would have liked. So, when I make this again (notice the when, not if) I will chop the tarragon before adding it to the cream. However, I would still whiz it in the blender for a few seconds because it thickened the cream ever so slightly, which was nice (just don't let it go for too long or you'll end up with butter).

Once the veggies were soft I put a few of them into a blender and added just enough broth to cover them (not too much, because you can always add more later it you need too).

I put each batch through a mesh strainer (the fennel was really fibrous, so the texture before straining was not so nice) into a sauce pan for a little reheating. When it was time for dinner I ladled up a little soup and topped it with the tarragon cream.

Best. Soup. Ever. Maybe a little more labor intensive than I like my soup (I did after all have to get out a blender instead of using my stick blender) but totally worth it. I'm going to make this again and again and again ...