New Recipe – Sliced Stuffed Fennel Bulbs Contessina Antonia Romola*

At the latest from November my husband and I start thinking about what to eat during the Christmas holidays. He has still bought extraordinary red wine and … beautiful new wine glasses. He knows exactly what I love: blue porcelain and blue glass! Blue has always been my favourite colour since I was a child. There was even a time, when I was about 20-25 years old, when I only wore blue clothes. Today I am much more colourful – I wear black, white, grey and blue 😉 …

Yesterday I wanted to cook fennel and tomatoes in a new way, so I created this roast vegetable meal which tasted delicious and looks very festive when served on the warmer with candles.

• Ingredients (serve 2)

• vegetable broth
• 2 middle sized fennel bulbs
• oil for the pan
• ½ of an onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 5-6 champignons or other mushrooms
• 1-2 tomatoes, cut
• 2 halves of dried tomatoes, soaked for ½ an hour and cut
• salt, pepper
• 2 slices of this bread (or organic rye bread) – toasted twice, cut in small pieces and blended to get breadcrumbs
• 2 slices vegan cheese, grated
• basil
• 

Preheat oven up to 180° C with fan, 200° C without.

Peel and cut onions and garlic and roast in oil. Add cleaned and sliced champignons and fresh and dried cut tomatoes. Salt and pepper. Stir, add about 5 tablespoons vegetable broth and let simmer for 3-5 minutes.

Put thickly sliced fennel bulbs into another pan, add vegetable broth until the slices are almost covered. Spoon mushroom-tomato-mix on it.

In a bowl mix breadcrumbs with grated vegan cheese and top stuffed fennel slices. Put into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Have an eye on it – cheese and breadcrumbs shall get a nice brown crust. Take out and toss with basil.

Enjoy with a glass of your favourite red wine!

*Contessina Antonia Romola was one of Lorenzo´s ten children he had with Clarice Orsini.