Fennel: icon of autumn

Fennel is the pride of the Italian table.  The autumn bulb redolent of licorice is chopped raw into salads, roasted in olive oil and cheese, tossed into seafood stews, even turned into dumplings. The plant's  seeds flavor breads and pastries, the wild flowers yellowing on hillsides in September flavor into lip smacking pasta sauces.  Fall is fennel time.

There are two kinds of bulbs: a flatter one and a rounder more bulbous one.  The latter is generally considered superior in recipes. The bulb is best used as close to its harvest as possible because it  begins losing its hints of licorice as soon as it's pulled from the ground.  To deal with those intimidating masses of fronds, chop them off so you can deploy the fennel bulb as you wish. You can now use some of these judiciously to jolt salads or you can turn them into a kind of pesto sauce for pasta. I'm working through ideas on how to do that, making slow progress on a cream sauce I had in Sardinia using the wild flowers.  

 But don't wait for me. Try these bright recipes now.                                                  
Salads
Here are a few of the many tricks that turn raw fennel into a very tasty and colorful salad.  
Fennel Orzo Salad 

This is an old favorite, great for kids.

Serves 4-6 depending on how much you like it.

2 fennel bulbs, cleaned and chopped, greens too

1 2/3 cups orzo (about ½ lb)

3 seedless mandarins, or clementines, peeled and pulled apart

1 lemon

½ lime

16-20 pitted prunes, coarsely chopped

3-4 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

salt to your taste

Put a few of the fennel fronts aside to chop for garnish.

Cook the orzo according to package instructions, until just al dente.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a small skillet and sauté the chopped fennel 4-5 minutes. Midway, add the garlic and blend. Pour the contents of the skillet into a salad bowl.  Add the mandarins and prunes and blend.

Remove the zest from half the lemon and dice it. Add to the salad.

Juice the lemon and lime, mix and add to the salad.

Drain the orzo. Salt them to your taste. Add to the salad

Stir to blend everything.

Chop the reserved fennel fronds and top the salad.

Refrigerate an hour before serving.

Fennel, Black Olive and Orange Salad

Some call the traditional pairing of fennel with oranges Venetian salad. I think of the orange and black olives as perfect for Halloween. Whatever you think, know its refreshing tang makes it an ideal salad next to that Thanksgiving turkey.

Serves 4

2 fennel bulbs  
1 lg orange
½ c (4 oz) black olives*
Extra virgin olive oil;
Sea salt, best quality

*pitted are less dangerous but also a bit less tasty 

NOTE: some people add a bit of chopped fresh mint to this.   

Finely slice the fennel and wash the orange. Peel them. Cut either into thin rings or break into sections. Clean the fennel bulbs and cut them horizontally into thin disks. They will fall apart, no problem. In a medium serving bowl, mix the sliced fennel, oranges and black olives Season with salt and olive oil and optional mint. Serve.

Fennel Arugula Salad

not my photo

You can't help but notice the totally Italian ingredients in this salad, a reminder of how totally Italian fennel is. Some nonconformists add sliced apples or pears to this.

2 fennel bulbs
2 cups arugula, washed and dried
1 lemon, juiced
 raw milk reggiano parmigiano cheese (you want the best)                       
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground pepper

Loosely arrange the arugula on the bottom of a shallow salad bowl, and then add some ground pepper and drizzle some olive oil on top.

Cut off the stems and leafy tops of the fennel, then finely slice the fennel into thin rounds and spread the slices over the arugula.

Pour the lemon juice over the fennel and arugula and drizzle with more olive oil and grind more pepper on top.

Shave the parmigiano with a potato peeler and cover the salad with the cheese, then serve.

Buttery Braised Fennel

This is about as easy as cooking fennel gets.

serves 4

4-5 small fennel bulbs               

3 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese

5 tbsp unsalted butter                

Salt & freshly ground pepper to your taste

Cut bulbs lengthwise into ½” slices. Put these with butter into a large, wide pot with enough water just to cover. 

Cook over medium heat 30-40 minutes until fennel has softened. (Add ¼ cup of water if the pot runs dry.) The goal is no liquid left on glossy, golden fennel. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add the grated cheese. Blend and serve while hot. Goes well with roasted meat. 

"French fried" Fennel

Italians often slice the bulb lengthwise, boil the slices in salted water 8 mins, drain them well, dry them and dip them first in egg, then breadcrumbs, and deep fry, serving with sea salt.

          




Florentine Fennel with Parmesan
Serves 4-6
4 large fennel bulbs,  trimmed, outer leaves picked
Butter, for greasing, plus a little extra
4 tbsp breadcrumbs
4 tbsp grated parmesan

 Heat the oven to 350º. 
Slice the fennel bulbs in half lengthwise. Plunge them into a saucepan of boiling salted water and cook for 7-10 minutes. When tender to the point of a skewer, drain them.

Arrange the fennel halves, cut-side down, in a buttered gratin dish or individual dishes. Strew the breadcrumbs over them, then the grated parmesan, and finally dot with the knobs of butter. Put the gratin dish in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the cheese and breadcrumbs are pale gold and bubbling.  

 NOTE: This is part one. Next up will be all sorts of cooked fennel recipes including fish with fennel and chili, creamed fennel with pine nuts, a cooked and raw fennel/carrot salad and braised fennel with celeriac.