These little fennel “heart”s are very simple, tasty, a somewhat different way to appreciate these so rich in fiber vegetables. I have stuffed them with a bit of emmental and parmesan cheese and I’ve flavored them with Sichuan pepper, which is actually ‘not’ “pepper” but a dark berry, native to China that has a less pungent and spicy taste of pepper and a lemon flavor …..
Ingredients for 4 servings: 4 fennel, 70 grams of diced emmental cheese, 3 tablespoons of grated parmesan, a tablespoon of finely chopped Sichuan pepper, breadcrumbs, extra virgin olive oil, salt
Wash the fennesl and remove the outer and thicher leaves, keep aside the green tufts and chop them. Boil the fennels in salt water for about half an hour so that they are soft but still quite firm, cut them in half length-wise.
With a sharp boxcutter remove the inside part of fennel leaving the two outer leaves that will collect the filling, add a little salt. Dice the inside of the fennel. Prepare the filling by mixing in a bowl the diced inside of the fennel, Emmental and Parmesan cheese, green tufts of fennel and Sichuan pepper. Fill the fennel, sprinkle the top with bread crumbs and place in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and greased with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.
Bake at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes
