This recipe is insane. It is so delicious. It could be the best thing I have ever made and eaten. It’s also vegetarian and makes an incredible Winter side dish. Fennel has the singular flavor of licorice and sweet anise. This recipe maximizes that flavor with crushed fennel seed and syrupy Sambuca. Braising the fennel in orange juice draws out it’s sweetness and turns it a vibrant citrine. There’s also dried red pepper flakes in here, adding a real kick as it cooks down with the juice and stock. As if this wasn’t enticing enough… there’s the seasoned panko breadcrumbs with herbs and orange zest. It’s gorgeous, bold, and truly balanced.
No surprise that it comes from Andrew Carmellini, chef and owner of Locanda Verde and The Dutch in NYC and author of Urban Italian. He’s a great story-teller, and he shares recipes in the voice of a real home cook: taste as you go, improvise with what you have on hand, use simple techniques to enhance a dish’s flavor and texture. This is the type of Italian cooking I love, and what I cook almost every night.
Carmellini writes that “this one-pot dish tastes even better the next day when the sauce has melted into the center of the bulbs.” This is definitely true. Make extra!
Fennel with Orange and Sambuca
from Andrew Carmellini’s Urban Italian
serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
3 fennel bulbs
2 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tblsp butter
1 onion, peeled, halved, and sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed with the flat of a knife
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
coarse-ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup Sambuca, plus 1 tsp for finishing
1/4 cup golden raisins, soaked to rehydrate for 20 minutes and soaking water reserved
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 cup low-sodium vegetable or chicken stock, or water
zest of one orange
for the breadcrumbs
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tblsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1 tblsp chopped thyme and Italian parsley
zest of 1 orange or lemon
pinch red pepper flakes
For Breadcrumbs: Heat olive oil with the garlic clove in a saute pan over medium heat, when the garlic is fragrant and starting to brown, add breadcrumbs, salt and pepper and toast for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Discard the clove of garlic.
1. Cut the tops off the fennel where the green stalks meet the white bulb. Trim the ends off the bulbs and cut the bulbs in half lengthwise. Remove the outer layers and anything that’s browned, and trim away any excess stem. Cut each half into eighths or sixths. Chop the fronds and reserve.
2. In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onion slices and sweat them, stirring until they start to soften, but don’t let them brown.
3. Add the fennel, garlic, fennel seeds, and red pepper flakes and season the mixture with salt and pepper. Saute 1 minute, then deglaze the pan with the Sambuca, and cook until the liquid in the pan has evaporated, about 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Add the raisins and the raisin-soaking water, orange juice, and broth (or water). Cook, periodically turning the fennel and glazing it with liquid from the pan, until the liquid is reduced by three quarters (it should be a thin layer on the bottom of the pan.) The liquid will thicken and the fennel will be glazed, shiny, fattened, and softened. For me, this took about 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Remove pan from the heat. Pick out the garlic clove, and mix in the chopped fronds and 1 tblsp of Sambuca. Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle the breadcrumbs and orange zest over the top.
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