Blue Cheese Baked Fennel

Submitted by English_Rose

"Roasted fennel is a great way of serving this vegetable, if you don’t fancy it raw. By adding a blue cheese and seed topping, you’re turning into so much more than a side dish. Grind the seeds well in a coffee grinder, to form a breadcrumb-like texture. If you don't have a grinder, you can pound them with a pestle & mortar or just chop them. This recipe is delicious with a delicate blue cheese and works well with Dolcelatte or Cambozola. Avoid stronger cheeses such as Danish Blue or Stilton, as they could overpower the flavour of the fennel. Serve with baked potatoes, a side salad or coleslaw."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 4
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 2 fennel bulbs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 7 ounces mild blue cheese (e.g. Cambozola, Grinzola, Dolcelatte, Gorgonzola)
• 4 tablespoons mixed seeds, such as pumpkin, sesame, sunflower or 4 tablespoons linseeds

directions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350°F.
2. Trim the green tops of the fennel bulbs and cut the bulbs in half.
3. Use a little of the oil to grease a baking dish. Arrange the bulbs in the dish, with the flat sides uppermost.
4. Use a pastry brush (or clean fingers!) to "baste" the fennel with the remaining oil. This will stop it from burning during roasting.
5. Mix the seeds together and grind well.
6. Crumble the cheese and mix with the seeds. It will form a kind of paste.
7. Smooth ¼ of the paste on top of each fennel half.
8. Roast for 30 minutes, until the fennel has softened and the topping is starting to go brown.

Reviews

[TrailChef]

Awesome! The seed and cheese topping really sets off the fennel and makes this a rich vegetable dish. We used the excess seed paste as a spread for crackers.

 

[BarbryT]

Very unusual and lovely! I am one of those who does not like raw fennel but roasted is delicious and the seeds and blue cheese topping on these is outstanding! Even though small, mine took longer to become tender (more like 40-45 minutes) and they did not brown as much as I expected. One might run them under a broiler for a minute at the end. I recommend these to anyone who likes blue cheese. 9-22-08 I am back to add another star. These are even better microwave-reheated for lunch the next day.