Greek Sautéed Fennel (or Onion)

Traditional health medicine and a gourmet side dish, this fragrant light green furry bulb is not one of those veggies you would like to miss in your diet. Packed with nutrition and a very low amount of calories - fennel is one of the fullest veggies that can easily substitute a main course.

I am still yet to discover all the wonderful fennel dishes out there, so if you know any, do tell. In the meantime, I would like to share this simple sauté with you:

GREEK SAUTÉED FENNEL:

• 1 lemon
• 100 ml water
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp white wine
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
  
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 big fennel bulbs*
• salt,
  
• 6 peppercorns
• 25 g fresh parsley

* Note: Substitute 500g pickled onions or shallots for the fennel.

Slice the lemon to 5 thin pieces, discard the seeds. Mix the water, oil, wine, lemon, garlic, coriander, peppercorns and the bay leaf in a cooking pot and bring to boil. Lower the heat, cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, chop the fennel into 1 cm thick slices. Add to the broth and let simmer for about 15 minutes or until soft. With a slotted spoon, scoop out the fennel and set aside.

Let the liquid boil down to half and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the fennel and serve garnished with some chopped parsley.

Tastes great cold as well.

At last - here is a bunch of fennel leaves - I am not particularly mad about their liquorish taste, but people here in Denmark enjoy tossing a few strands into salads, yoghurt-based dips or in soups. Well, I guess I like more the way they look :-)


Note: I just tried this again and added some shaved Parmesan cheese right before serving. It was really delicious, I must say...