The Recipe Room

There’s something very comforting about au gratin dishes; somehow the melted cheese and breadcrumbs seem to make all your troubles just fade away while you’re eating them!  This baked fennel with tomato gratin is no exception, and the Italian cheeses and whole-wheat bread crumbs seem to hit that special place in your belly that warms your body and soul.   (Fennel also goes well with bell peppers in this pancetta, fennel and sweet pepper tart.)

Fennel is one of my favourite veggies, and its subtle anise flavour makes the perfect bed for the gratin, especially after the baking brings out its natural sweetness.

 

What you’re going to need:

• 4 young fennel bulbs
• 1/2tsp salt
• 4 medium tomatoes
• 1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 bunch scallions
• 1 clove garlic
• 110g Ricotta cheese, crumbled
• 85g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• 65g whole-wheat bread crumbs
• 2tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Pepper to taste
• Pinch of cayenne pepper

What you have to do:              

1. Preheat the oven to 205ºC.
2. Trim the fennel and quarter lengthwise.
3. Cut the core out of each piece without removing the leaves.
4. Chop up the tender leaves and set aside.
5. Bring 2 litres of water with 1/2tsp of salt to the boil.
6. Add the fennel quarters to the boiling water and blanch for 6 minutes, then submerge in cold water and drain thoroughly.
7. Remove the cores from the tomatoes.
8. Plunge the cored tomatoes into boiling water for a few seconds and then transfer to cold water to loosen the peels. Remove the peels, cut into quarters and dice finely.
9. Wash the parsley and finely chop the leaves.
10. Trim the green onions, then wash thoroughly and cut into fine rings, including the tender green part.
11. Peel the garlic and mince.
12. Combine the Ricotta cheese with the tomatoes, flat-leaf parsley, fennel leaves, garlic, green onions, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs and olive oil and mix thoroughly.
13. Season to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.
14. Place the fennel quarters in a baking dish.
15. Spread the tomato gratin over the top.
16. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the gratin is nicely browned.
17. Serve hot.

 

Preparation Time:  35 minutes

Cooking Time: 25-30 minutes

Serves:  4

Difficulty: Medium

Tags: Baked Fennel with Tomato Gratin, cayenne pepper, fennel bulbs, flat-leaf parsley, garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese, scallions, tomatoes, vegetarian, whole-wheat bread crumbs

This entry was posted on Friday, 18 May, 2012 at 12:31 pm by Serena Langley and is filed under Less than 1 hour, Starters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed RSS 2.0. You can leave a comment, or make a trackback from your own blog.