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Braised Fennel with White Wine and Parmesan

By America's Test Kitchen

Published on September 14, 2011

Time

40 minutes

Yield

Serves 4

Braised Fennel with White Wine and Parmesan

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter 2 medium bulbs fennel or 3 small bulbs fennel (about 2 ¼ pounds), stems, fronds, and base trimmed, bulb cut vertically into ½-inch thick slices (see illustrations 1 through 3)Salt and ground black pepper ⅓ cup dry white wine ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Before You Begin

In this recipe, the fennel cooks slowly in butter and white wine until tender, then receives a dusting of cheese just before serving. This rich side dish works well with beef or veal.

Instructions

  1. Heat butter over medium heat in sauté pan large enough to hold fennel in almost single layer. Add fennel and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Add wine and cover pan. Simmer over medium heat 15 minutes. Turn slices and continue to simmer, covered, until fennel is quite tender, has absorbed most of pan liquid, and starts to turn golden, about 10 minutes longer. Turn fennel again and continue cooking until fennel starts to color on other side, about 4 minutes longer.
  2. Sprinkle fennel with cheese. Transfer to platter or individual plates and serve immediately.
Braised Fennel with White Wine and Parmesan

Braised Fennel with White Wine and Parmesan

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By America's Test Kitchen
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Time

40 minutes

Yield

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
2 medium bulbs fennel or 3 small bulbs fennel (about 2 ¼ pounds), stems, fronds, and base trimmed, bulb cut vertically into ½-inch thick slices (see illustrations 1 through 3)
Salt and ground black pepper
⅓ cup dry white wine
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Test Kitchen Techniques

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
2 medium bulbs fennel or 3 small bulbs fennel (about 2 ¼ pounds), stems, fronds, and base trimmed, bulb cut vertically into ½-inch thick slices (see illustrations 1 through 3)
Salt and ground black pepper
⅓ cup dry white wine
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Test Kitchen Techniques

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
2 medium bulbs fennel or 3 small bulbs fennel (about 2 ¼ pounds), stems, fronds, and base trimmed, bulb cut vertically into ½-inch thick slices (see illustrations 1 through 3)
Salt and ground black pepper
⅓ cup dry white wine
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Test Kitchen Techniques

Why This Recipe Works

We learned while developing our fennel recipes that it responds well to braising, absorbing flavors from the cooking liquid to deliver very good results. Fairly slow cooking turned out to be the key for delivering fennel that was uniformly tender.

Before You Begin

In this recipe, the fennel cooks slowly in butter and white wine until tender, then receives a dusting of cheese just before serving. This rich side dish works well with beef or veal.

Instructions

  1. Heat butter over medium heat in sauté pan large enough to hold fennel in almost single layer. Add fennel and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Add wine and cover pan. Simmer over medium heat 15 minutes. Turn slices and continue to simmer, covered, until fennel is quite tender, has absorbed most of pan liquid, and starts to turn golden, about 10 minutes longer. Turn fennel again and continue cooking until fennel starts to color on other side, about 4 minutes longer.
  2. Sprinkle fennel with cheese. Transfer to platter or individual plates and serve immediately.

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