Root-to-leaf cooking uses all edible parts of the plant. There are no throwaway ingredients with this cooking philosophy; everything that is edible can be made delicious. Our December spotlight is on fennel — bulbs, stalks, fronds, seeds and all.
Fennel is so versatile. Shave it raw into salads, purée it into soups, or — when the days are short and the house is cozy — braise it in the oven until it’s tender and silky. This braised fennel dish is bathed in heavy cream and accented with nutmeg and orange zest. While fennel bulbs aren’t sold with their seeds, I like to add crushed fennel seeds to the panko topping anyway. It just feels right.
Braised fennel in cream sauce
Ingredients
3 medium fennel bulbs, around 2 pounds, stalks and fronds attached
3/4 cup cream
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Orange zest from 1/2 an orange, about 1 tablespoon
Butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Crushed fennel seed panko (recipe below)
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish to coat the bottom and sides of the dish.
Prepare the fennel. Wash the bulbs, stalks and fronds. Cut or pluck fronds from stems and roughly chop; set aside. Cut stems from bulbs and cut stems into 1/2-inch pieces. Slice each bulb in two lengthwise, then cut each half into 3 wedges (6 wedges total for each bulb).
Arrange wedges in prepared baking dish to fit. Arrange stems on top of wedges in an even layer.
Sprinkle nutmeg, orange zest and salt and pepper over the fennel. Toss about half of the fronds evenly over the bulbs and stems.
Pour the cream evenly over the fennel, making sure to pour some around the corners and sides.
Prepare the panko topping.
Panko topping
Ingredients
1 teaspoon whole fennel seeds
Large pinch of reserved fennel fronds
Pinch of salt
1 cup panko or breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons butter
Directions: In a cast iron or other heavy skillet, toast fennel seeds over high heat until just browned and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
Remove fennel seeds from pan; turn heat to low.
Crush fennel seeds with a mortar and pestle. (If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, crush the seeds using a heavy rolling pin or in a clean coffee grinder.) Add a large pinch of the remaining fronds and a sprinkle of salt and crush until combined. Toss with panko or breadcrumbs.
Add butter to warm pan and swirl until melted. Add the panko mixture and stir to coat. Turn off the burner and remove pan from heat.
Sprinkle the panko mixture evenly over the fennel wedges.
Bake the dish in preheated oven for 45–55 minutes, turning halfway through, until the edges of the pan are bubbling and lightly browned, and a knife inserts easily into the base of the fennel bulbs.
Remove from oven and rest for 10 minutes before serving; this allows the cream mixture to settle and further thicken.
After dish has rested, toss remaining fennel fronds over the dish. Serves four main course portions.
Serving ideas: Serve with a chewy grain like farro, with slices of hearty bread, or alongside roasted chicken or pork.
Notes: In the winter, I like to freeze some of the peels after peeling an orange. You can take the frozen peels right from the freezer and use a microplane zester to add to casseroles and baked goods as needed. If you already have clementines, tangerines or blood oranges on hand, use those for zesting. Lemon zest will also work.
If you want to make this dish but aren’t yet sure you love fennel, replace half the fennel with an equal amount (by weight) of shallots or yellow onions. Peel and cut shallots or onions into wedges, as with the fennel, and alternate onions and fennel in the baking dish. Proceed with recipe as written.
Wine pairings: This is a hearty cream dish with distinctive flavors; you’ll want a wine that has enough body to stand up to the creaminess, but that doesn’t compete with the anise-like flavor and orange zest. My favorite pairing so far is a white wine from the Gavi region of Piedmont, Italy.
The wine is made from the Cortese grape and aged in neutral oak barrels. The neutral oak aging (compared to new oak, which imparts a strong wood flavor) allows the wine to concentrate its flavors and gives it a rich texture. The grape itself has lovely notes of citrus zest, ginger and lightly floral elderflower, and is the perfect match for fennel. (Gavi has the added bonus of having a very friendly price point as well.) A lightly oaky Chardonnay would also be a wonderful pairing, as would Viognier, a fuller-bodied white wine with similarly floral aromas.
Hannah Green’s Root-to-Leaf column runs the first week of every month.
