Juha od koromača sa gremolatom od crnih maslina / Fennel soup with black olive gremolata

                                                          
                                                           Please, scroll down for English!
Odlučih dati još jednu šansu kuhanom koromaču. Prije par godina probala sam kuhano-pečeni koromač i otad nisam više htjela čut za njega, ma kakvi.. Jednostavno mi  nije odgovarao taj izrazito aromatičan okus, koji se djelomično izgubi termičkom obradom, ali opet ostaje onaj specifičan okus koromača. Nešto kasnije sam pripremila osvježavajuću i dosta poznatu kombinaciju maslina, svježeg koromača i naranača i svidjela mi se. Znači, problem je bio u okusu kuhanog koromača.

Pred malo sam prošetala do svog omiljenog 2. kata Profila (bilo bi super kad bi u knjižari imali aparat za kavu :D) prelistala (čitaj: bilježila pola sata na papirić zanimljive recepte ;))  "200 najboljih talijanskih jela" i zamijetila ovu krasnu juhu. Pročitah sastojke... sviđa mi se! :-)
Tako je nastala krasna, aromatična  i nevjerojatno UKUSNA zimska juha koju jednostavno morate probati. :D
Izmijenila sam originalnu recepturu tako da sam dio koromača dodala tek na kraju što je dodatno dalo juhi svježinu.  Gremolata od maslina joj daje jednu divnu notu bez koje bi ova juha bila pomalo obična. Gremolata ili gremolada se najčešće radi od maslinovog ulja, češnjaka, peršina i limunove korice, a ovdje je iskombinirana sa maslinama. A znamo da su koromač i masline savršen par.;)

Sastojci za 2 osobe:
1 veća glavica koromača
1 luk
3 žlice maslinovog ulja
korica 1 limuna
250 g krumpira
voda ili temeljac, cca 1/2 l
sok 1 limuna


Gremolata
3 žlice crnih maslina (odlično dođu one konzervirane u ulju, ako ne, dobre su i obične)
1 češanj češnjaka (kojeg sam zaboravila dodati od silne užurbanosti)
korica 1 limuna
listići koromača

1.Koromač narežite na sitnije komade, listić i zelenkastu tanku stabljiku pustite za ukrašavanje.. Krumpir očistite i narežite na kockice.
2. Luk narežite na sitno te stavite pirjati na 3 žlice maslinovog ulja, posolite ga te pirjajte dok malo ne omekša, cca 5 minuta.
3. Dodajte luku krumpir,2/3 nareznaog koromača te limunovu koricu. Još kratko miješajte, a zatim dodajte temeljac ili vodu toliko da pokrije sve sastoje u loncu.
4. Pustite da zakipi, pa kuhajte sve zajedno na srednje jakoj vatri oko 20 minuta dok svi sastojci ne omekšaju.
5. U međuvremenu napravite gremolatu. Sve sastojke za gremolatu usitnite i pomiješajte, nemojte previše gnječiti. Listiće možete ostaviti i za ukras na kraju!
6. Kad je juha kuhana, dodajte joj preostali sirovi koromač. Izmiksajte ju štapnim mikserom, vratite na vatru na kratko. Maknite s vatre, dodajte soli i svježe mljevenog papra po ukusu te sok od limuna, također po ukusu, može i manje od navedenog.
7. Juhu servirajte u tanjure, na vrh dodajte 1 žlicu gremolate od maslina i listić od koromača. Dodajte malo ekstra djevičanskog maslinovog ulja na vrh i degustirajte! ;)

Version in English

I decided to give another chance to a cooked fennel. A few years ago I ate cooked fennel. Since then I no longer wanted to hear for it. I just didn't like the aromatic flavour of cooked fennel, which is partially lost by cooking it, but still remains that distinctive taste of fennel. Later, I prepared a refreshing and quite well known combination of olives, fresh fennel and oranges and I simply loved it! So I concluded, the main problem was the flavor of the cooked fennel.

 

The other day,  I went to my favourite bookstore (it would be great if they had coffee while I'm reading all those beautiful cook books :)), leafed through "200 Italian favourites" by Marina Filippelli, and I just couldn't not to notice this wonderful winter soup. I read the ingredients... and I liked it immediately!

I changed a little bit the original recipe, so I added 1/3 of the raw fennel just in the end of cooking. That gave the soup a  bit of freshness, and besides, I wanted to make it much healthier by adding raw fennel in the end.

Gremolata or gremolada is a traditional Italian condiment made from finely choped parsley, garlic and lemon zest and good extra vergin olive oil, but in this recipe it is combined with black olives and parsley is replaced by aromatic fennel leaves. You shouldn't make this soup without gremolata because it gives the soup such a beautiful and unusual flavor. And we all know that fennel and black olives are such a perfect couple.:)

Recipe for 2

1 large fennel bulb

1 onion, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil

zest of 1 lemon

250g potatoes

water or broth, about 1/2 l

juice of 1 lemon

Gremolata:

3tbsp black pitted olives (I prefer those conserved in olive oil)

 1 clove garlic

zest of 1 lemon

fennel leaf

1. Coarsely chop the fennel bulb. Leave the thin stalks and leaf for garnishing the soup in the end and leave 1/3 of the bulb.
2. Heat the live oil in the pan, add finely choped onion, season with salt and saute until slightly softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the remaining 2/3 of fennel bulb, lemon zest and choped potato and stir. After about 5 minutes add the stock or water so that it covers all the ingredients in the pan. Cook for about 20 minutes until all the ingredients are softened.
4. In the meantime make black olive gremolata. Chop and then combine all the ingredients for gremolata.
5. When the soup is cooked, remove it from heat. Add the remaining raw fennel, puree the soup in a blender or in a food processor, then add the lemon juice to your own taste. Season with some salt and ground black pepper. Bring back to the heat for about 2 minutes.
6. Serve warm soup in a bowls, garnish with 1 tablespoon of black olive gremolata, few drops of extra virgin olive oil and with some finely choped  fennel stalks and fennel leaf.