The way I love this Tomato Fennel Soup with Any Noodle knows no bounds. And please don’t let the title fool you into thinking this is something simple, this soup is packed with an insane amount of flavor. All while having pretty easy steps and ingredients! The key to this tomato soup is that we slowly build flavor with anchovies (you don’t taste fishiness, but you do get a richness of flavor that you’ll miss if you don’t have them!), darkened tomato paste and fennel. And I will die on the hill that fennel is a better soup base than any onion, and if this soup doesn’t prove it, this soup should win you over.
The other perk of this soup? You can use any season of tomato, making this my perfect winter soup for when I am craving the acidity and sweetness of tomato soup, but am mourning the loss of our good summer tomatoes. This soup will shine with any tomato, greenhouse or otherwise, that you can find at the store. And their texture is fantastic.
Ingredients you will need for this tomato fennel soup
A simple ingredient list, but an impactful one! This is what you will need:
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
For topping
- 1/2 cup yogurt, skyr or sour cream optional, for topping
What makes this tomato fennel soup high in protein
I use three tricks to make this soup higher in protein than most other soups:
- I blend up a can of white beans and add it to the soup. This makes it thicker, creamier and higher in protein, but you don’t explicitly see the beans.
- I use a chickpea pasta instead of normal pasta. This is not mandatory, but I love it for an extra way to make this soup a full meal.
- I add a dollop of skyr or yogurt at the end. This add protein, along with creaminess and a nice texture contrast at the end! You can also use sour cream, which has less protein, but it’s up to what you prefer!
What are the best ways to store this tomato soup
You have two options when storing this soup: Freezing and Fridge-ing!
To freeze this soup: Portion it into individual-sized portions. I recommend either steel or glass storage containers. Freeze for up to six months. Thaw on the stovetop over medium heat until the soup is simmering
To “fridge” this soup: You can either keep it in the pot you cooked it in, or transfer it to a air-tight container. It will keep in the fridge for up to four days. Reheat either on the stove over medium heat, or in the microwave where you can microwave on high for 2-3 minutes at a time until you reach your desired temperature.
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And that’s it for this Tomato Fennel Soup with Any Noodle!
If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.
And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3
Tomato Fennel Soup
Equipment
- 1 small blender
- 1 chef's knife
- 1 large pot or dutch oven
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
For topping
- 1/2 cup yogurt, skyr or sour cream optional, for topping
Instructions
- 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.
Is there a good substitute for the anchovies if we want to make this vegetarian?
I always suggest capers or olives, it won’t be exactly the same but it will add some nice depth of flavor!
Hi, will canned San Marzano whole tomatoes work in this recipe?
Hello! Absolutely, I just tested it with a 28 ounce can of san marzanos and it worked really well!
Can’t wait to try this! Would roma tomatoes be a good substitute for globe? or any other variety you recommend as a sub? Can’t seem to find globe in any of my grocery stores.
I received fennel & tomatoes in my recent farm box so this soup was perfect timing and it did not fail! I left out the pasta and I grilled some Italian sausages to go with for my husband & son. It was delicious!
So glad you liked it!!
This is so so delish!
This soup is the perfect cold-weather meal: cozy, comforting, and light. The tomatoes and fennel are so bright and flavorful and play off each other so well. (I used canned tomatoes.) The anchovies add a nice depth of flavor but do not make this soup fishy at all. And I might start adding blended white beans to all my soups! It adds such a lovely richness to the broth.
This soup stored wonderfully in the fridge. The last little bit ended up as sauce on our homemade pizzas, and now I need simmered fennel on all pizzas, always.