Have you cooked with fennel before? Or eaten it? Do you love it? Hate it? I have avoided it for years, due to an assumption that it would taste like black licorice.
As it turns out, raw fennel definitely smells like licorice, but it doesn’t taste at all like that. We had a huge fennel bulb in our CSA Box this week and I had no idea what to do with it!
I looked up some flavor combinations recommended with fennel in The Flavor Bible and found that there are a lot of uses for it. We were all impressed with the flavor in this simple side dish.
I already mentioned to my husband that I want to plant some next year. I can’t believe I waited so long to try it. I’m looking forward to cooking with it again.
Fennel with Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 extra large garlic clove minced
- 1/4 cup red onion slivered thin and cut into 1-2" pieces
- 1 bulb of fennel cleaned and very thinly sliced (stalks and leaves removed and saved for another use)
- 6 large mushrooms cleaned and sliced to bite size pieces (I used crimini)
- kosher salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper generously to taste
Instructions
- In a large cold skillet, combine the oil, the garlic and the onion. Set heat to medium and saute for a few minutes. When the skillet is fragrant, add the fennel and mushrooms. Saute, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender crisp and the mushrooms are softened, about 10 minutes. Enjoy!
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kimt says
try ina's fennel and potato gratin…you will be getting up in the middle of the night to eat the leftovers!
Mary says
Thanks, Kim! I just made a note to try it next time we have fennel. It sounds delicious!
Kristin says
I've avoided fennel too for the very same reason…so I'm glad to know that I'm wrong! Thanks for sharing, I'll be hunting out some recipes to try it now!
Chris says
I was actually looking forward to trying fennel and had it at Craft Steak in Vegas last March. It was a shaved fennel salad with lemon and some other items. I wasn't really wasn't a big fan of it. It was okay.
marg says
We use a very similar recipe raw in the summer with a creamy dressing and the fronds sprinkled over all. Can add sliced radishes as well. Crisp, crunchy, and pretty
Karen says
Quick, easy and full of flavor. Will definitely make this again. Thank you!
Mary says
I’m thrilled that you enjoyed the recipe, Karen!