Poor fennel, it gets such a bad rap, and I must confess - I am an anise skeptic. Which makes it all the more surprising how much I love fennel! Now, it’s true that raw fennel can be overly reminiscent of a bag of Licorice Allsorts.
But cooking fennel wedges in fat until golden brown and then braising it in liquid results in a vegetable transformed. Its anise-y edge disappears, and a delicate, minty sweetness is revealed.
Fork-tender, sticky, and sweet, braised fennel is the perfect base for any topping your beautiful mind can dream up. I’ve recently loved it with salsa verde, lemon garlic tahini, and Momofuku truffle chili crisp.
White Wine Braised Fennel with Salsa Verde
Serves: 2-4
White Wine Braised Fennel Ingredients:
2-3 bulbs fennel
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (sub same amount olive oil if making vegan)
1 tablespoon sugar (white or brown, whatever you have)
1/2 cup vegetable stock (can sub same amount water or chicken stock)
1/2 cup dry white wine
Small handful of the lacy fennel fronds, for garnish
Salsa Verde Ingredients:
1 cup fresh parsley, woody stems removed
1 cup fresh cilantro, woody stems removed
1/2 cup mint, woody stems removed
1 cup finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons capers
2 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
White Wine Braised Fennel Instructions:
Chop the fennel bulbs in half lengthwise from top to root, then in half again, then in half again, creating 1-inch wedges. Gently toss the wedges (you should have roughly six to eight wedges per bulb) with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar until each wedge is evenly coated with salt and sugar.
Melt 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter or olive oil in a large frying pan (make sure to choose a pan with a lid), set over medium heat. Once the fat is shimmering, add the fennel wedges, cut side down, and brown over medium heat for 3-4 minutes per side.
Once the fennel wedges are golden and caramelized on both of their cut sides, pour 1/2 cup of dry white wine and 1/2 cup of vegetable stock (or sub the same amount of water). Reduce the heat to medium-low and put the lid on.
Allow the fennel to simmer over medium-low heat for 5-6 minutes. Then remove the lid and continue simmering over medium-low heat for 4-5 more minutes or until the liquid is reduced by at least half.
Once the braising liquid is reduced by at least half and thickened, and the fennel surrenders to your fork and is golden brown and sticky, it’s done. Garnish with the lacy fennel fronds.
Salsa Verde Instructions
Combine everything in a food processor until the herbs are fully minced, and it becomes chunky yet spoonable salsa.
This salsa verde pairs perfectly with braised fennel or anything, really. This batch will produce enough for the braised fennel recipe, with plenty left for spooning onto things throughout the week.