CHEFS' RECIPES
Fennel and thyme gratinée

Fennel and thyme gratinée

“I love the aniseed flavour of fennel. I grew up drinking Ricard Pastis on my summer holidays in the south of France from a very young (and legal) age. This is the ideal side dish to any rich, fatty meat.”

Serves 6

Cooking Time Prep time 25 mins, cook 1 hr



200 gm   coarse fresh sourdough breadcrumbs
50 gm   clarified butter, melted (see note)
1/3 cup (firmly packed)   flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 tbsp   thyme leaves
Finely   grated rind of 2 lemons
3   fennel bulbs, cut into 6 wedges
100 gm   butter


1 Preheat oven to 170C. Combine breadcrumbs and clarified butter in a bowl, season to taste, scatter mixture on an oven tray and bake, stirring occasionally, until lightly toasted (5-10 minutes). Add parsley, thyme and lemon rind and set aside.
2 Place fennel in a saucepan large enough to fit fennel snugly in a single layer, dot with butter, add 1 litre water, cover closely with baking paper, cook over medium heat until tender (10-15 minutes). Remove fennel (reserve 150ml cooking liquid), transfer to a 1.5-litre baking dish. Pour reserved liquid over fennel, season to taste, scatter with breadcrumb mixture, bake until golden (20-30 minutes). Serve hot.

Note You’ll need about 75gm butter to yield 50gm clarified butter.

This recipe is from the July 2010 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.

Drink Suggestion Lightly floral and nutty chardonnay from southern Burgundy.

RECIPE Daniel Southern, Comme Kitchen, Melbourne PHOTOGRAPHY Sharyn Cairns STYLING Lisa Featherby DRINK SUGGESTION Marty McCaig and Frederic Blevin

Search by cuisine, name, ingredients...

Gourmet Traveller magazine

Subscribe and win!

Subscribe or renew your subscription to Gourmet Traveller this month and go into the draw to win an indulgent 5 night holiday in Koh Samui, Thailand in your own beachfront villa valued over $16,000!
Get 12 months of Gourmet Traveller for the online only price of $69.95
Subscribe Now!