Mar 8, 2010

Fennel Baked in Milk (Finocchio con Latte al Forno)

In this creamy dish, the fennel is braised in milk until it becomes tender.

Credit: Todd Coleman

3 medium bulbs fennel, fronds reserved
4 cups milk
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper,
to taste
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

1. Heat oven to 475°. Remove tough outer layer of fennel. Halve bulbs lengthwise and cut into 1⁄2" wedges. Combine fennel, milk, and 2 tbsp. butter in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until fennel is just tender, 30–45 minutes. Add fennel seeds and season with salt and pepper.

2. Using a slotted spoon, transfer fennel to a 2-quart oval baking dish; pour 1 cup of the milk mixture over fennel. Sprinkle with Parmesan, dot with remaining butter, and bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 20 minutes. Serve fennel garnished with some of the fronds.

SERVES 4 – 6

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #128

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Ratings & Reviews (8)

by jessicabcd on 2010-04-02

Good tasting and easy dish to prepare, but it didn't wow me. I probably won't make this again. Scrubbing the milk from the sauce pan and the baking dish was quite the chore.

by shelina on 2010-04-07

Just like the way it is served in Italy. Lovely dish. I would definitely make it again.

by LAURADH on 2010-06-15

This dish is fragrant, easy, and utterly delicious. We'll definitely be making it again.

by MASHABEDDA on 2010-08-26

Mi manca Roma tanto!! E come a roma :) ottimo!

by CREATIVECOOK on 2011-04-22

This dish is delicious but found out that cooking the fennel in milk in a saucepan caused the milk to burn at the bottom. So I transferred the fennel to a microwaveable dish, poured one cup milk over the fennel, covered the dish and microwaved on 50% power till tender. Then I put the fennel and the one cup milk in the baking dish and added the remaining ingredients and baked 20 minutes. It was perfect.