My mom sent a heavy gift over the Atlantic Ocean this past Christmas. Beneath a jar of honey and some tubes of hand lotion was a 10-inch cast iron skillet that I recently inherited from my grandmother. There is no telling how many chickens my southern grandmother fried in this skillet, or how many batches of cornbread she made in it, but one thing is certain: it is well-seasoned.
Now I use it constantly, adding my own flavors of seared salmons, Spanish pisto manchegos, vegetable frittatas, and last night- one of the best meals I’ve made in quite a while-
Oil-Roasted Fennel & Tomatoes with White Beans & Thyme
Highly recommend this, especially now that fennel and tomatoes are coming back into season. Fresh thyme is always available in Sweden (thank god, because I have a slight love affair with thyme), but the original recipe calls for oregano if you prefer.
Note: This dish deserves good ingredients. Using dried herbs, half-ripened tomatoes laced with pesticides, refined oils, or canned beans may cost you some really amazing flavor. Just saying.
INGREDIENTS
2 large fennel bulbs
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 ripe and organic tomatoes, quartered and seeded
handful of fresh thyme sprigs
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
coarse salt and black pepper
2-1/2 cups cannellini beans, cooked and drained
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 200°C.
Set aside 1/3 cup fennel fronds.
Trim fennel bulbs and cut in half vertically. Cut each bulb half into 1/2-inch, leaving some ore attached to each wedge.
Heat oil in large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until very hot, about 3 minutes. Add fennel wedges in single layer; sprinkle with a good pinch of coarse salt. Turn heat down to medium. Cook until fennel begins to brown and soften, turning occasionally, 10 to 12 minutes. Add tomatoes, thyme, garlic, and crushed red pepper; sprinkle with a pinch of coarse salt and grind some black pepper. Fold together gently.
Transfer skillet to oven. Bake fennel and tomatoes until soft, stirring occasionally, 15-20 minutes. Mix in beans and the chopped fennel fronds. Bake 5 minutes longer to heat through. Serve warm or at room temperature, with some fresh thyme sprigs on top.
Serving suggestions: With white fish. On top of polenta. Or with some good crusty bread (as I did, with this bread).
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