Cooking with the Bubba: A series of original recipes #19- Roasted Fennel With Tomatoes & Turkey Bacon

Following on the heels of brocoli rabe comes another Italian vegetable dish. Fennel, a celery-like anise flavored stalk, can be eaten raw (like celery) or baked, broiled or sauteed with other vegetables, most notably tomatoes. Roasted fennel and tomato are a great topping for broiled or baked fish. In this case we do it over pasta with turkey bacon. Tasso ham or prosciutto works as well, but for now we'll be a tiny bit fat and cholesterol conscious.

Ingredients (for two): 1 large bulb of fennel, 6 large plum tomatoes, 1 large clove of garlic (chopped), 1 shallot (diced), 1/4 cup olive oil, 8 strips of turkey bacon, salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.

Preparation: Cut off the stems and any leaves from the fennel. Wash, dry, and save some of the leaves for garnish. Cut the bulb in quarters and wash (like celery, the outer sections usually contain some soil). The inner sections can be briefly rinsed under cold water. Now cut each quarter in half (It's easier to wash quarter size pieces since they're less apt to fall apart). Rinse the tomatoes and cut in eights.

Cooking: Place the fennel in a foil lined baking pan and drizzle with half of the olive oil. Bake at 375 degrees for a half hour, turning the fennel pieces over after 20 minutes. Sautee the garlic and shallot in the remaining olive oil until golden, then add the tomatoes. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring every minute or so. Now add the fennel and its juices from the baking pan. Stir and cook over low heat for another 10 minutes or so, while adding salt and pepper to taste. Meanwhile you can fry or bake (as we do here) the turkey bacon strips.

Serve: Over pasta (bow ties here) topped with 1 inch cuts of the bacon strips, grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese and some finely cut fennel leaves for garnish. HOME