Nigella Lawson’s fennel and Gruyère gratin is the ultimate celebration of this often under-appreciated vegetable. Make it as a side dish for a roast or the centrepiece of a meat-free feast. From the book Cook, Eat, Repeat by Nigella Lawson, a collection of recipes you’ll want to make over and over again, including quick and easy meals, Christmas comfort food, and stunning bakes, interspersed with witty, thoughtful, and beautifully written essays.
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Nigella says: “This creamy gratin is a special treat for fennelphiles. The nuttiness of the Gruyère partners beautifully with that gentle aniseed flavour. Frankly, I could lap up the fennel-vermouth-and-cheese-deepened cream with a spoon. And often do. While it’s rich and deep in flavour, it is fairly fluid; if you want it to be thicker, make the gratin up ahead of time, since it thickens as it stands. I often halve this for two, baking it in a shallow round ovenproof dish 23cm in diameter and 5cm deep.”
Serves 4.
Ingredients
- 1kg fennel (it’s best to have 2 large bulbs rather than several smaller ones)
- 250ml dry white vermouth
- 75g Gruyère
- 2 fat cloves of garlic
- 250ml double cream
- 2 tsp sea salt flakes (or 1 tsp fine sea salt)
- A good grinding of pepper
- 1 x 15ml tbsp Dijon mustard
Essential kit
You will need: a round, shallow dish of about 25cm diameter or a 2 litre gratin dish.
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Instructions
- Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan.
- Cut off the chimney-like stems from the fennel, then halve the bulbs, cut away most of the core and cut each half into 3 or 4 wedges. Keep the offcuts for stock and the fronds for salads.
- Put these wedges into a heavy-based pan that comes with a tightly fitting lid – I use one of 22cm diameter – and pour over the vermouth, then bring to the boil over high-ish heat with the lid on, so listen out for the bubbling. I know there’s not a lot of liquid in the pan, but so long as the lid fits tightly, it shouldn’t evaporate, and the fennel, as it softens, will give off liquid of its own.
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- Once it comes to the boil, turn the heat down and let it simmer robustly for 15 minutes or until the fennel wedges feel soft when you prod them with a fork. Lift up the lid and check after 10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and, with tongs or a couple of forks, transfer the now bedraggled fennel to a round, shallow dish of about 25cm diameter or a 2 litre gratin dish. Reserve the cooking liquid.
- Meanwhile, finely grate the cheese and peel the garlic. Measure the double cream into a jug, then mince or grate in the garlic, add the sea salt flakes, grind over the pepper, and stir in the grated cheese and the Dijon mustard followed by the vermouthy-fennel juices from the pan.
- Whisk to mix before pouring over the softened fennel in its dish. Use a spoon and fork to turn the fennel in the cream, so that it’s well coated, leaving it in a single layer. You may need to press down a bit on the fennel to make sure it’s submerged, though don’t worry if some of it is poking up.
- Bake in the oven for 1 hour, until the gratin is bubbling, its top bronzed in places. Let the dish sit for about 10 minutes out of the oven before serving.
Make Ahead – Assemble dish to end of step 5 up to 2 days ahead, press food wrap onto surface to submerge fennel and refrigerate. Bake, allowing an extra 15 minutes, until piping hot.
Store – Refrigerate leftovers, covered, for up to 1 day. Reheat in microwave or transfer to ovenproof dish, cover with foil and heat in a 180°C/160°C Fan oven until piping hot.
Freeze – Freeze leftovers in airtight container for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in fridge. Reheat as above.
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