Tomato, fennel and lentil soup with sundried tomato garlic bread and almond dukkah

Pre heat oven to 210.

Peel and dice the onion and the carrot.

Chop the fennel in half lengthwise, then dice. Use it all including the stalk.

Peel and mince the garlic.

Cut the tomatoes in half, lay on a baking tray, sprinkle with sugar, salt and little oil.

Roast for 10-15 minutes until just starting to brown.

In a medium pot on medium heat, sweat the onions, fennel and carrot in a little oil for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar, then cook for another minute.

Remove from the heat until tomatoes are cooked.

Once the onions are translucent and the garlic is just starting to brown, add the tomatoes and stir well.

Add the water, soup stock and cook for about 15 minutes, taste and add more salt, if needed.

While the soup is cooking, prepare the sundried tomato garlic bread.

Slice the bread on a slight bias, not quite all the way through. Spread each slice with the butter, then wrap in foil.

Turn down the oven temp to 180. Place the bread in oven for 10 minutes. If you like it crispy, unwrap it and bake for another 5 minutes.

Remove the parsley leaves from the stalk and roughly chop, add the leaves to the soup and and remove from the heat.

Remove the bay leaves from the soup and discard.

Blend the soup for at least a minute, until very smooth. You may need to add a little more water.

Open, strain and rinse the lentils.

Return the soup to the pot along with the lentils and heat through. Taste and add more salt, as needed.

Serve the soup sprinkled with dukkah and with garlic bread on the side.