Fennel is one of those odd, underused vegetables in an everyday kitchen. It looks like celery, tastes like black licorice, and changes like a chameleon depending on how it’s cooked. But it’s a wonderfully versatile and healthy thing to work with – you just have to give it some time and love.

Incredibly high in vitamin C and fiber, fennel can be served crunchy raw, boiled, braised, baked, and everything in between. The cool thing is, once you bake it, the flavor can change dramatically from pungent and bitter, to sweet and aromatic. If you’re one of the many out there who dislikes its natural black licorice flavor, blanching and baking it is your road to fennel happiness, which you can follow below.

I saw this side dish of baked fennel with parmesan in the latest issue of Everyday Food, and immediately decided to make it. As I wandered around my grocery store trying to come up with something to serve it with, the idea of fennel = fennel seeds = sausage popped into my head. Since Italian sausage traditionally has fennel seeds in it, why not take a plain or non-Italian chicken sausage and bake it with this yummy fennel side dish to get that flavor profile, but in a much more elegant, muted way? Tender and velvety fennel with the rich and robust sausage, the dish is all-season friendly. Plus, the whole thing comes together in under 45 minutes, using only 2 pans, and could easily be served for a hearty lunch or light dinner.

Words cannot describe how much I love this stuff.

Blanching.

Pre-bake.

Golden brown.

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Baked Fennel with Sausage

Serves 3-4

Based on the recipe from Everyday Food.

Ingredients

• 1 very large (or 2 small) fennel bulb, washed and quartered (reserve the stems and fronds, chopped, if there are many)
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• ½ tsp dried thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Salt and pepper
• 2 large chicken sausages (not Italian), cut into 8 pieces

Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 450° F with the rack set in the lower third. Butter a 9×13″ baking dish and set aside.

2.) Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the fennel bulbs (and stems, if applicable) and boil 10-15 minutes until tender. Remove and drain, cut sides down, on paper towels for a few minutes.

3.) Place the fennel cut side up in the prepared baking dish, and brush with butter. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme, and parmesan cheese. Stick the sausage pieces in between the fennel and pop in the oven.

4.) Bake 20 minutes, turning the sausages halfway through. Sprinkle with fennel fronds and serve hot with a nice leafy salad or crusty bread.