Fennel. What's Your Pleasure?

[CraigC]

I think fennel is an under used vegetable. I really love it sliced and roasted. I'm planning on using some in a marinara sauce and see how it turns out. I've had it thinly sliced in a salad. Anyone like it as a pizza topping? I love using the seeds in my mild Italian sausage!

 

[Herbie]

Love fennel. Nice thinly sliced with orange for a salad. I also roasted it with or without potatoes then roast a piece of cod on the top at the end.

I'll be interested to hear what others do with it too as I agree, it is under used.

 

[ElizabethB]

I have had thinly sliced Fennel in a salad. YUMM. I have used fennel frond and Fennel seed in cooking. Love Italian sausage with lots of Fennel seed.
I used fennel frond and seeds in a tomato pizza sauce once. It was an Italian Sausage pizza. I also used added fronds to the top of the pizza as soon as it came out of the oven.
Roasted Fennel root is on my bucket list.

 

[TastyReuben]

I rarely ever use it, except as an addition to a salad. I like it just fine, but it's not a "star" vegetable to me, more of a supporting one.

 

[rascal]

Only ever use the seeds for my Garam masala. Dry roasted then ground.

Russ

 

[epicuric]

We mostly use it for making fennel gratin. Thinly sliced, and layered with grated garlic in a roasting dish, topped up with cream, covered and roasted in the oven. Goes really well with pork.

 

[HairyHeaven]

Confit fennel is really lovely. I make a cauliflower & fennel piccalilli which is great with cheese. I also use fennel & apple as a base under roasted pork belly which I then make gravy out of.
Fennel is also really good in dessert, fennel caramel is gorgeous

 

[Morning Glory]

Confit fennel is really lovely.

What do you confit it in and for how long?

 

[MypinchofItaly]

I’m a big fan of fennel and I cook/eat it often. Raw just thinly sliced and seasoned only with oil, salt and pepper, or in sicilian salad (with orange and black olives as well), steamed, au gratin, into a risotto or just eat it raw as a snack, I love it whatever it is. I also used quite often fennel seeds, I add them sometimes in bread dough.
I have several herbal teas fennel- flavoured as well

 

[adventurousbaker]

Never used fennel plant, but we sometimes use dry fennel seeds for making meat. Put a few seeds on the cutting board, smash it with a knife, and then put in a hot pan with oil to extract the flavors before putting in the meat. Adds a great layer of flavor~

 

[Burt Blank]

My fave is fennel and onion marmalade as a relish. With a mature cheddar its a killer. Monstrous with Welsh rarebit. Phenomenal with all toasted sarnies. It also make the flavor note of hot or cold spam dance on your tongue like Nureyev and Fonteyn

 

[Morning Glory]

It also make the flavor note of hot or cold spam dance on your tongue like Nureyev and Fonteyn

 

[mjd]

I've never used it except for fennel seeds which I use for homemade Chicago-style deep dish pizza. I was born and raised in Chicago but lived in North Carolina for about seven years. It's impossible to get authentic deep dish pizza there so I had to learn how to make it after failing at getting my favorite restaurant to FedEx me some.

Your post makes me want to find it and try it.