Serves Four
Ingredients:
- 3 small fennel bulbs, 30-45 ml olive oil, 5-6 shallots sliced, 2 garlic cloves crushed, 4 tomatoes peeled and chopped, about 175 ml dry white wine, 15 ml chopped fresh basil or 2.5 ml dried, 40 -50 gm fresh white bread-crumbs, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Cooking Method:
- Preheat the oven to 150ºC. Trim the fennel bulbs and cut into slices about 1 cm in thick.
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and fry the shallots and garlic for about 4-5 minutes over a moderate heat until the shallots are slightly softened.
- Add the tomatoes, stir-fry briefly and then stir in 150 ml cup of the wine, the basil and seasoning.
- Bring to the boil, add the fennel, then cover and cook for 5 minutes.
- Arrange the fennel in layers in an ovenproof dish. Pour over the tomato mixture and sprinkle the top with half the breadcrumbs.
- Bake in the oven for about 1 hour. From time to time, press down on the breadcrumb crust with the back of a spoon and sprinkle over another layer of breadcrumbs and a little more of the wine.
- The crust slowly becomes golden brown and very crunchy.