HungryForever

FENNEL, BUTTER BEAN, OX TONGUE AND GREEN SAUCE

A lot going on for a soup, but what a soup!

Servings

Ingredients

1 ox tonguebrined for 10–14 days
a few stock vegetablessuch as carrot, leek, celery, onion, garlic, roughly chopped
extra virgin olive oil
6 heads of fennelsliced thinly against the grain
4 firm white onionspeeled and sliced 3mm thick
8cloves of garlicpeeled and left whole
1 small glass of Pernod
chicken stock
2in handfuls of butter beanssoaked overnight and then simmered thoroughlyclean water with a head of garlic, until they are soft, swollen pillows of joy (very important, as we know what happens to undercooked beans—nothing!)
sea salt and black pepper
Green Sauce

Instructions

Rinse the brined ox tongue and soak it for a couple of hours in fresh water. Put it in a pan with the stock vegetables, bring to the boil and simmer for 3 hours. Check with a knife; you want a thoroughly giving tongue. Peel it while still warm, then allow to cool.
We are almost ready to construct our soup . . . In a pot big enough to receive all the ingredients, pour a healthy splash of olive oil and put on a not too furious heat. Sweat off the fennel, onions and garlic until giving but not collapsing, as they still have some cooking to do. Add the Pernod.
At this point, add enough chicken stock to cover everything, then add the butter beans. What you want is beans in the soup, not a thick, beany soup. Think of the Mysterons of Captain Scarlet and the circles of light that came with them—that’s the sort of bean ratio you are looking for in the soup. Let this simmer, allowing all the components to get to know each other.
Now slice as much tongue as you feel appropriate (keep the rest for sandwiches) into thin little angel’s wings. Slip these into the soup. After a moment’s more introductory simmering, check for seasoning and serve with a big bowl of Green Sauce to dollop, plus bread and wine.
A fine lunch.