Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini ©

The Florence Fennel seeds from NewWorld Supermarket's Little Gardener have grown into big long fennels, not the round fat fennels unfortunately. So I decided to pick them before they became too tall and create something with them. I washed them, removed the leaves and cooked them with a tbs of butter and a little light vegetable stock until they were tender, and then I added another tbs of butter I blended them into a cream which I used to dress pasta with. It was delicious! I have a couple more fennels in the garden and this will be their destiny too!  PS: The leaves are just for decoration Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

The smoked scamorza is from  Il Casaro  and it is made with vegetarian rennet. To prepare the vegetables: I washed and quartered the fennel bulbs and passed them in butter, then I added a ladle of vegetable stock and cooked them slowly slowly, with the lid on, until soft. I used some of their juice to steam a bunch of asparagus, and then I cut the scamorza and put it on the hot pan for a couple of minutes, turning them after one minutes, just to soften and sizzle (but not melt). Serve with crusty bread if you like. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

This is a lovely salad and also a light main, filling, nutritious and full of different textures and flavours! For two serving use: 1 medium Florence fennel, sliced 1 avocado, sliced 1 small carrot, grated A little red cabbage, finely chopped (this is mostly to add a dash of colour, red radicchio would work well too!) 8-10 walnut kernels, crushed A few drops of lemon juice Extra virgin olive oil and salt to taste (optional) Usually I just put the lemon juice on the avocado and the carrots only, and then assemble the salad, and it taste great even without salt or olive oil (avocado and walnuts are full of good fats anyway). Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Caprese with Florence Fennel This salad is a Caprese with a twist: yes to the tomato, mozzarella and basil (all dressed with extra virgin olive oil and salt), but with the addition of Florence fennel. I was curious to see how it would go, usually I don't pair fennel with tomatoes, or with mozzarella, and especially not with basil! But it was truly a success, the flavours, the textures... the colours! A lovely salad or starter. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

I don't do it often, but to cook Florence fennels in milk is a very Italian method, not really used much overseas (or at least, I haven't noticed it!). The fennels seem to acquire a really special taste when cooked in milk, and after this first 'stage' they are usually baked in the oven or placed under the grill, with or without toppings. A big tray would have several fennels, but becasue I only had three fennels I decided to add some lasagna sheets to make sure that they would not 'dry up' too much in the second cooking stage in oven.  Fennels Cooked in Milk Wash three Florence fennels and cut like in the photo.   Gently (very gently) simmer the fennels in milk (about half a litre) until they are quite tender (about 30 minutes). Watch the pot at all times: the milk may boil out. Lift out the fennels, but keep the milk in the pot. I didn't want to put the fennels straight into a pan, so I placed ...

I have a few fennels growing in the garden and the other day only two were big enough to pick. They were certainly bigger than those ' bambino ' fennels I see in the supermarkets here in New Zealand, but not as big as the ones I used to get in the markets in Italy. I had to find a way to make them go ... further! So I decided to cook them with bok choy (the only other vegetable really 'active' in my veggie garden), hoping that the strong fennel taste would take over.  Go Further Fennels Surprisingly enough it worked! I guess that this was a sort of 'Fusion' experiment for me, and I wonder if in Chinese cuisine fennels are ever paired with bok choy. Do you Know?? Anyway, for the recipe: I washed and cut the 2 fennels and 1 bok choy and cook them in a pan with just a little butter (Vegans please use margarine, not olive oil for this dish) then I added some vegetable stock, covered them with a lid and let them simmer on very low for quite ...

This turned out to be a fantastic vegan curry, and quite innovative too: I have never seen a curry made with borage!!! Yes, borage again! I have tons of it in the garden, you can eat the flowers, the stems and the leaves, but I limit myself to the smaller tender leaves. They are prickly, but that goes away with cooking. The only thing to remember is to discard the pods with the seeds that have already formed (they are too hard), like the one in the photo below. Flowers and flower buds are soft, and can be cooked. Sizzle one tsp of fenugreek seeds and one green chili with one tbsp of vegetable oil. Add one small tsp each of turmeric, ground coriander, ground fennel and paprika, and also a good pinch of salt. Add one onion, chopped, and sizzle for two minutes, and then add half cauliflower, cut into florettes. Coat the cauliflower well with the spices. Add one can of coconut milk, and then one can of water (to rinse the coconut milk can). Co...

I made some flower pasta (recipe here) , I used roses, borage and nasturtiums. I cooked some brown lentils, then I passed them in a pot with olive oil, a shallot and salt. I used them as filling. Possibly herbs would have been better: the lentil filling is quite dark, so the petals were not so visible. I'll remember this next time :-)! For the sauce I cooked some baby fennels very slowly with butter and a little water. I added more butter, and just a pinch of salt at the end. The fennel butter matched the lentil filling beautifully. A great dish for New Year (FYI, in Italy it is traditional to eat lentils for New Year). The borage flowers are decorations, but they too can be eaten, and we did! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Yep more almonds, but for something savoury today. I love dukka, and I wander why I don't make it more often, but as I still have lots of almonds no excuse! My base recipe is in my book Savour , yet the beauty with dukka is that it can be personalized each time, and it is always good. For this one I toasted 100 g of almonds (not blanched) in the oven for 10 minutes, then I added one tbsp of sesame seed, one tsp of cumin seeds and half tsp of fennel seeds and put everything back into the oven for 4-5 more minutes. All in the food processor, and then grind until fine but still a little chunky. At the end I added some smoked paprika and some salt. Dukka can be used as a rub, a topping (great on hummus) and as a dip. And it can be made with a variety of nuts, seeds and spices. The best way to eat it, for me, is to use it with bread: dip some bread in extra virgin olive oil first... And then in the dukka!. Quite addictive, and the perfect party food. It lasts a few days in a sealed tin ...

A blogger from Italy is proposing this great initiative against homophobia, following some rude comments and jokes by our Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. To support the initiative bloggers are asked to provide a recipe with Florence Fennel (recycle OK), for more info click here. Thank you Gaia for the initiative :-) Salad with Red Radicchio, Florence Fennel and Walnut Photo by Alessandra Zecchini © A lovely and crisply salad made with fresh mixed leaves and red radicchio (the round type, which is crispy and lovely to eat raw). I find red radicchio a bit bitter, this is why I like to mix it with other green leaves. Then I added some finely cut Florence fennel, and some freshly shelled walnuts. For dressing I just used some good extra virgin olive oil, some lemon juice and some salt. Non-vegan option: I had some salad left over and I made a mega panino using crusty ciabatta bread, this salad (without dressing) and some gorgonzola chees...

Photo by Alessandra Zecchini © Rushed for time these days, I am at home more, but working, so I can let a pot simmer, but don't have much time to look after it... or to shop, or to plan a menu. And at the end of the day I want a complete meal all in one plate! This is so easy, and filling... 1 large Florence fennel 2 tbsp vegetable margarine 1 can of chickpeas salt and pepper to taste 500 g pasta (any type) salt for the water serves 4 Wash and slice the fennel into big chunks. Melt the margarine in a large frying pan (which you can cover with a lid). Add the fennel and then simmer, very slowly, for about one hour, adding a little water from time to time. I use quite a bit of margarine for this, about 2 tbsp. When the fennel is soft add the chickpeas. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water. At this point every time I add a bit of water to the fennel I use the salted water from the pasta, which is full of starch and makes a nice sauce, and it is salted. At the end you may still want ...

Photo by Alessandra Zecchini © A lovely and crisply salad made with fresh mixed leaves and red radicchio (the round type, which is crispy and lovely to eat raw). I find red radicchio a bit bitter, this is why I like to mix it with other green leaves. Then I added some finely cut Florence fennel, and some freshly shelled walnuts. For dressing I just used some good extra virgin olive oil, some lemon juice and some salt. Non-vegan option: I had some salad left over and I made a mega panino using crusty ciabatta bread, this salad (without dressing) and some gorgonzola cheese. It was super!!!!

The photo is not very clear, taken with the iPhone at dinner time, and the recipe is very simple, but effective. On arrival to Italy Martina gave me some Florence fennels, I had some raw in a salad, and then I cooked the rest very slowly with a little vegetable stock and some butter. At the end I added some Parmesan cheese. I used them for pasta, and they tasted great. My original recipe for these fennels is here (with a better photo!)