White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup

This is such an easy soup that truly is more than the sum of its parts. It has the sort of flavour I had only experienced before in Paris. Read for yourself how simple it is and then taste how richly caramel and deeply complex the flavours are. No one will guess how effortless your preparation was!

White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, lightly crushed
1 litre of your best stock
2 cans of cooked cannellini beans (about 800g in total)
1 teaspoon dried sage
2 large heads of garlic

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
2. Remove any excess papery skin from the garlic and place on a baking tray to roast for 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile sauté the onions in the olive oil for five minutes.
4. Add the salt and fennel seeds and sauté for a further minute.
5. Add the stock, beans, and sage and simmer for five minutes.
6. When the garlic is cool enough to touch, gently squeeze out the soft white contents into your soup. Discard the skins.
7. Blend as smoothly as you wish or leave it as it is. I prefer silky smooth.