Author Notes: My favorite new cookbook is Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem, and inside is one of the most delicious recipes I’ve ever made with chicken: Roasted Chicken with Jerusalem Artichoke and Lemon. The flavors of roasted shallot, garlic, lemon, and chicken complement each other perfectly, and the Jerusalem Artichokes soak up all the lemony flavor. I decided one night to replace chicken with fennel and adapt the recipe slightly to make it vegetarian, and the results were absolutely delectable. Instead of marinating the ingredients for hours in the fridge, I toss them together and roast them immediately. I also use preserved lemons in addition to fresh lemon, and whole unpeeled garlic instead of slices, for this dish. The lemon, saffron, and fennel are just gorgeous together: the fennel caramelizes and takes on a beautiful golden color as it roasts, while all the flavors work to deepen one another in a seemingly never-ending interplay of delicious flavors and textures. The most wonderful part of this dish is that the oil that pools on the bottom of the pan is infused with all the flavors, and can simply be poured over the vegetables to make them sing even more beautifully. I served this with some lemony farro risotto I whipped up, it was just amazing.
Note: both the fresh roasted lemon slices and the preserved lemons are fully edible in this dish. —ortolan
Serves: 4 as a side, 2 as a main
Ingredients
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1
Fennel (bulb loosely chopped into 8-12 long pieces, 1/4 cup fronds reserved)
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3-4
small Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes), peeled and cut into 4 equal half moon slices
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4
Large shallots (cut lengthwise into 4-6 pieces, similar to fennel pieces)
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5-7
garlic cloves, unpeeled
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1
lemon, sliced into thin rounds
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2
small preserved lemons, coarsely sliced
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1/4
cup good olive oil
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1
tablespoon butter
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1
teaspoon combination of any fresh herbs–tarragon, thyme, rosemary, marjoram
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1
teaspoon fresh parsley, chopped
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1/4
teaspoon saffron threads
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1/2
teaspoon maldon sea salt, or kosher salt to taste.
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1/2
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or grains of paradise
Directions
- Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
- Place sunchokes in a pot of cold water, and heat until boiling. Cook for 4-6 minutes, until sunchokes are tender but not mushy. Drain and plunge into bowl of ice water to inhibit further cooking.
- While sunchokes are cooking on the stove, combine all other ingredients except butter, fennel frond, and parsley in a large bowl. Add cooled sunchokes, and combine well.
- Pour all ingredients into a large ceramic or glass baking dish (11×13 is good). Distribute dabs of butter on top. Roast for 25-30 minutes.
- After around 30 minutes, vegetables should be glistening and golden, and the bottom of the pan should be pooling with saffron-infused oil. Remove from oven and cover with foil, and roast another 15 minutes, or until shallots are well caramelized.
- To serve: Spoon all vegetables onto a platter or serving plate. Chop up 1 tablespoon of fennel fronds, and add to the saffron and lemon-infused oil left in the roasting pan, swirling to coat. Pour fennel frond-oil mixture over the vegetables. Garnish with fresh parsley, and serve.
/6c74ab59-95d0-4624-b42a-c350c43348f2--Screen_Shot_2013-03-23_at_6.41.14_PM.png "Lemony Saffron Roasted Fennel with Sunchokes, Shallots, and Herbs 2")
