Homemade tomato soup with chili oil

Roughly chop the onion; shave the fennel bulb fine so it cooks in the same time. Use the stalks only if the soup will be strained.

Melt the butter, add the onion and fennel over medium heat and cook without browning; grind in pepper and add the celery seeds.

Stir in the flour to make a roux.

Before anything browns, add the tomatoes and their juice; break whole tomatoes up with a potato masher to speed cooking.

Add the white wine, keeping the soup on the dry side; turn the heat down and simmer, scraping the bottom now and then.

For the chili oil, put dried chili flakes in a little olive oil in a small pot with a crushed garlic clove; heat until the garlic barely sizzles, then infuse on low while the soup cooks.

After about 40 minutes, puree the soup with an immersion blender.

Season with plenty of salt, thin with water, and add tomato paste if it needs more tomato flavor; add sugar only if the tomatoes are not sweet enough.

Optionally, grind the soup through a sieve with a stiff spoon a little at a time, discarding the fibers, for a smooth texture.

Serve with chili oil spooned on top and chopped fennel fronds.