Fennel Baked in Cream and Parmesan

One month ago - on March 16th - I decided to spend some of my quarantine time blogging. I wanted to see if I could manage to post a recipe per day. At the time, quarantine was set to last three weeks. It has since been extended for another three until April 28th, and next week we will find out what happens after that. It’s not unlikely we’ll be looking at another extension. 

But that’s then, and this is now - once again the 16th. That means today is a bit of a milestone - with a whole month of once-a-day recipes behind me. And I haven’t given up just yet, so here’s another one for you :)

When you remove it from the oven, this dish doesn’t look like much. In fact, it looked iffy enough to give me some serious doubts. But then I stuck the first forkful in my mouth, and I was sold. It’s insanely delightful and makes a wonderful side dish. Proves yet again what we already know: just how deceiving looks can be. 

Recipe (enough for a side dish for 2):

1 large fennel bulb
250mL cream
1.5 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp butter

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius

Instructions:
1. In a bowl, mix the cream, half of the parmesan, and the salt and pepper.

2. Cut the stalks off the fennel and discard. Halve the fennel lengthwise, then cut it into 1cm wedges.

3. Add the fennel to the cream mixture and stir it through until all the fennel is properly coated.

4. Place in a baking tray, single layer. Dot with small pieces of butter and cover with tin foil.

5. Leave in the oven for 1 hour, then cover with the remaining parmesan and return to the oven for another 20 minutes. Sprinkle with some freshly grated parmesan and black pepper, then serve.