Chilled Fennel Soup

• 5 pounds fennel (5 medium bulbs), trimmed of tops and root ends (reserve tops for garnish) and cut in 1-inch cubes
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 ounces fromage blanc, or skim milk or low-fat cottage cheese
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Place fennel in a 5-quart casserole with a tightly fitting lid.
2. Toss with olive oil.
3. Cook, covered, at 100 percent power in a high-power microwave oven for 32 minutes, stirring twice.
4. Remove from oven and uncover.
5. Immediately scrape mixture into a food processor.
6. Process for several minutes, stopping from time to time to scrape sides of bowl, until mixture is very smooth.
7. Add fromage blanc and process until smooth.
8. Add lemon juice and 2 cups of the chicken broth and process until smooth.
9. Scrape mixture into a large bowl.
10. Whisk in remaining 2 cups chicken broth, salt and pepper.
11. Refrigerate until cold.
12. Coarsely chop 1/2 cup of the fennel tops and sprinkle some over each serving.

fennel, olive oil, fromage blanc, lemon juice, chicken broth, kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/4466 (may not work)