slow-roasted fennel

This involves 4 ingredients (plus salt and pepper) and patience — it is slow after all — which is kind of funny, because according to my friend and fellow cook Amanda Haas, who worked on the cookbook this came from with chef Todd English, they knocked out all the recipes in three intense days of cooking. As a result, every dish has fewer than 10 ingredients and is easy to make. “No restaurant food!” was Amanda’s mantra. A chef’s book with no chef-y stuff? Love it.

from Cooking in Everyday English, by Todd English

ingredients

3 fennel bulbs
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 lemon, halved
about 1/2 cup shaved or grated parmesan, preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano

directions

Preheat oven to 250°F. Rinse fennel, trim bottoms and cut off stalks, reserving fronds for another use if desired. [my note: Sorry, but the stalks really are of no use other than flavoring stock for fennel risotto—I’ve tried cooking them to see if they were edible but they were tough as shoelaces.] Place trimmed bulbs on a 15×12-inch piece of foil; drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Wrap foil tightly around fennel. Bake for 6 hours or until tender enough that you can pierce a bulb straight through easily with a knife. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes, then unwrap.

Cut fennel into wedges and place on a platter. Squeeze lemon halves over fennel and serve, sprinkled with parmesan as desired.