Roasted Potato Fennel Soup

I know I should be better about eating leftovers, and yet I'm not. Lots of things just aren't as good heated up the next day, and I'm not one of those people who can eat things cold when they should be hot. I just had it hot yesterday and it was awesome and you want me to eat it cold today? No, thank you.

Soup, though, is different. Soup is good the next day and it's easy to heat up and it's perfect for me now because I just don't have the wherewithal to make a fresh hot meal every single night that is both somewhat nutritious but also incredibly awesome-tasting. (Whew! I was glad to get that off of my chest.) This Roasted Potato Fennel Soup is from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. It is delicious, will last you an entire week, and makes use of fennel, which I like to just smell and smell and smell. Come over to my house and I'll shove a big fennel bulb in your face and make you smell it. It's intoxicating, isn't it?? Like licorice celery.

Roasted-Potato Fennel Soup

4 lbs red potatoes, scrubbed & quartered
1/4 c plus 2 T good olive oil
1 T minced garlic (3 cloves)
1 T kosher salt
2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
4 c chopped yellow onions (4 onions)
4 c chopped fennel bulb (appx 2 lbs)
3 quarts chicken stock
1 c heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large bowl, toss potatoes with 1/4 c. olive oil, garlic, salt & pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes, or until cooked through.
Saute onions & fennel in large stockpot with 2 T. olive oil for 10-15 minutes. Add roasted potatoes (including any scrapings from the pan) and the chicken stock. Cover & bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered for one hour. Add the heavy cream and cool the soup slightly. Chop coarsely in batches in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Taste for salt & pepper - reheat & serve hot.