Garlic Soup

I'm not going to make any magical health claims about this soup. All I will say is that my husband was starting to get a bad cold, complete with a sinus infection, so I made this soup up for him. The morning after eating it he was fully recovered. Oh, and it tastes really good.

6-7 c. vegetable broth
1 head of garlic, peeled & minced
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 bulbs of fennel, fronds cut off, tough outer layer removed and quartered
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
15 oz. can tomato sauce or 3 tomatoes blitzed in a blender or diced with their juices
1/4 c. dry vermouth, white wine or vodka (optional)
Sea salt to taste
Dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

1) Place the broth in a large soup pot, place it over a high flame and bring to a boil.

2) As the liquid comes to a boil add the herbs and chop and add the garlic, onion and fennel. Reduce to a simmer and let it cook for 1 hour.

3) After 1 hour add the tomato, vermouth, sea salt and cayenne and let it simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

4) Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool a bit. Then strain the soup through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl making sure to press down on the solids to extract all of the liquid. Scrape the underside of the strainer to make sure all of the soup stuck to the bottom gets into the bowl.

5) Rinse the pot and return the soup to the pot. Reheat the soup and serve.

This makes 2-3 servings.