“Can we have braised fennel?” — no one
Until now
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I have this untested theory — more a gut feeling — that there are certain ingredients that recipe developers call for often that people don’t actually like to eat all that much. Fennel (and radishes) are in that group.
As a legitimate lover of both fennel and radishes, both raw and cooked, I would love to be proven wrong. Am I wrong?
Today’s recipe feels like a risk because it features the perhaps-unloved fennel in a big way. I should also come right out and say the fennel is braised, another cooking term that I’m not sure people jump excitedly for.
But readers’ support for this Substack allows me to write about the food that I deeply love to eat but that may not “hit” on social media and with the search-engine robots. So thank you. As a token of my appreciation, I braised you some fennel.
The recipe started with
’s glowing recommendation. I browned then braised fennel with a little lemon juice to bring to a friend’s house — and days later, I was still thinking about it.The fennel spears were delicate in flavor, sweet with just a touch of lemon, but their texture was substantial and required a knife to get into. I didn’t even use stock, Meyer lemon or Parmesan, but the sauce was still glossy and so good with just water and half a regular lemon.
My only complaint was that I wanted to eat more of it, to dig into those spears of fennel again and again. So this rendition is more of a main dish with more fennel per person and with beans in the braise, too. It can be eaten hot from the pan, with bread or pasta to soak up the sauce. It’s also lovely at room temperature alongside a green salad.
The original recipe and my riff shaves Parmesan on top of the final dish, the cheese’s salt jumping off the sweet fennel. I forgot to do it the first time around and didn’t miss it. That said, if the mention of large curls of Parmesan makes braising fennel more enticing, then you simply have to add the cheese.
