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Fennel baked in cream
( SERVES 4 )

Bite

Photo by Tamara West

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Baked fennel (or sliced paper-thin and eaten raw) is a pure delight. You only need to cook one bulb for each person. Its aniseed bite works well with roast pork or lamb. Look for fennel bulbs that are white and hard as they discolour and soften with age. The green tops should be sweet-smelling.

Ingredients

25 g	Butter
4	Fennel bulbs, outer stalks removed (these are tough and stringy)
2 pieces	Bacon, thick cut, cut into strips and lightly pan fried
1 clove	Garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp	Flour
300 ml	Cream

Directions

Heat the oven to 190C. Generously butter a shallow baking dish.
Cut each fennel bulb in half (from stalk to root). Blanch in lightly salted boiling water and drain well.
Cut blanched fennel bulbs into quarters and place in the baking dish. They might break up a little but don’t worry about that.
Scatter over the bacon pieces and push garlic down under the fennel. Season with freshly ground black pepper.
Whisk the flour into the cream and pour over the fennel.
Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until the fennel is completely tender. Test using the point of a sharp knife.

More side dishes from Kathy

Here are a few sides to serve with your favoured joint of roast meat. Potatoes and pumpkin are familiar partners, but here I’m giving them a little more attention than just roasting them in the dish with the meat.

Oven-cooked pork cheeks
Potato gratin
Roasted buttercup squash