Nick and I fell in love with fennel this year. It has a fantastic texture, a great anise flavour that complements so much, and it is just as delicious raw as it is cooked. Most recently I made a fennel gratin. It’s very simple, you just boil and slice the fennel, layer it with bechemel and a lovely salty cheese like pecorino, asiago or parmesan. Do another layer and bake. As you can see I wanted to get a little crazy so I threw some herby croutons on there. I think next time I might crumble them up in the food processor and make it more like a bake. All in all this dish is creamy, crunchy, divine and seems like the perfect meal for the last winter/first spring days we are having. I suggest serving with a salad of butter lettuce, diced orange, shallots, and olives. Enjoy!
Finnochi Gratinati (Fennel Gratin)
- two fennel bulbs
- bechemel, one cup (see recipe, leave out sage)
- 50g/half a cup of parm, or similar cheese
- s+p
- breadcrumbs to top – optional
Preheat over to 385. Remove the outer leaves of your fennel, chop the bottom and top bits off, cleean and plop the remaining bulbs into boiling water for 15mins. Prepare your bechamel. Remove fennel from water and slice. Slice your cheese. In a ~9×12 in baking dish lay down half the fennel, then drizzle with half the bech and cheese, then repeat. Bake for 15 mins and turn on broil for a couple mins to brown the top.
