Vellutata di finocchio e aneto. Fennel and dill soup

The closest term to describe today’s soup is vellutata, as in the French velouté: a soup made with a small number of ingredients, puréed into a thin, creamy, velvety consistency.

Today’s recipe is a soup, but in Italian we wouldn’t call it simply zuppa, as that would suggest a thicker, chunkier preparation, which should also include bread — a staple in our Tuscan cuisine to make soups more filling and nutritious. It isn’t a minestra either, as that calls for a cereal of sorts, such as pasta, rice, barley or farro. The closest term to describe today’s soup is vellutata, as in the French velouté: a soup made with a small number of ingredients, puréed into a thin, creamy, velvety consistency. It often includes potatoes or cream to add richness and round it out, but I relied on chicken stock and leeks instead. Have you ever noticed how leeks, when coddled on slow heat, turn into a creamy, buttery base for soups?