“I love the aniseed flavour of fennel. I grew up drinking Ricard Pastis on my summer holidays in the south of France from a very young (and legal) age. This is the ideal side dish to any rich, fatty meat.”
Fennel and thyme gratinée
Australian Gourmet Traveller French side dish recipe for fennel and thyme gratinée by Daniel Southern from Comme Kitchen in Melbourne.
- 25 mins preparation
- 1 hr cooking
- Serves 6
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Ingredients
- 200 gm coarse fresh sourdough breadcrumbs
- 50 gm clarified butter, melted (see note)
- 1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (firmly packed)
- 1 tbsp thyme leaves
- Finely grated rind of 2 lemons
- 3 fennel bulbs, cut into 6 wedges
- 100 gm butter
Method
Main
- 1Preheat oven to 170C. Combine breadcrumbs and clarified butter in a bowl, season to taste, scatter mixture on an oven tray and bake, stirring occasionally, until lightly toasted (5-10 minutes). Add parsley, thyme and lemon rind and set aside.
- 2Place fennel in a saucepan large enough to fit fennel snugly in a single layer, dot with butter, add 1 litre water, cover closely with baking paper, cook over medium heat until tender (10-15 minutes). Remove fennel (reserve 150ml cooking liquid), transfer to a 1.5-litre baking dish. Pour reserved liquid over fennel, season to taste, scatter with breadcrumb mixture, bake until golden (20-30 minutes). Serve hot.
Notes
Note You'll need about 75gm butter to yield 50gm clarified butter. This recipe is from the July 2010 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.
Drink Suggestion: Lightly floral and nutty chardonnay from southern Burgundy. Drink suggestion by Marty McCaig and Frederic Blevin