Roasted Fennel Recipe

Fennel, also known as sweet anise, is most commonly served raw, usually sliced very thinly and tossed with a bright dressing as a salad or added to green salads for a bit of extra crunch and light anise flavor. Roasting this bright bulb softens its crunchy nature and turns it meltingly tender. It also brings out its inherent sweetness, dramatically softens its already gentle licorice flavor, and gives it nice browned, caramelized edges. Serve with roasted meats, roast chicken, stews, or other roasted vegetables. The roasting technique used here can be applied to one bulb of fennel or 10. The only limits are the size of your oven and how many people you have to feed.