Fennel is a fun vegetable because both the fronds and bulbs are edible. For this dish use just the bulb, but you can reserve the fennel fronds for using as you would any fresh herb. This dish has so much flavor, and couldn’t be easier to prepare. For this dish we used Spicy Italian Sausage from Autumn’s Harvest Farm – we love their pasture-raised meats. Here’s a link to where you can find their products. Preheat the oven and break down your fennel.
Start by removing the fennel fronds and stalks. I like to remove the tops and then wash and dry the bulb. Cut small slice off the bottom, then cut into quarters and thinly slice. Layer in a pan, and drizzle with olive oil, salt, & pepper.
If using Autumn’s Harvest sausage, their sausage usually comes in a coil, cut into four pieces. Otherwise, arrange 4 sausages over the fennel. Roast at 400F for 30 – 40 minutes flipping sausage in between. During the summer you can scatter basil slices of basil leaves over the top and serve. During winter use those fennel fronds for garnish!
Roasted Fennel & Sausage
1 lb sausage
1 fennel bulb, tops removed, and thinly sliced
optional: small handful of basil leaves
olive oil, salt + pepper
Preheat oven to 400F. Layer fennel in a baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Arrange sausage on top. Bake 30 -40 minutes until sausages are done, flipping sausage halfway through cooking.
Optional: Chiffonade basil. Stack basil leaves together, roll into a bundle, and slice into thin slices. Scatter basil over cooked fennel and sausage.
