I love fennel. It grows like a weed in your garden and tastes deliciously sweet and licoricey. It’s wonderfully fragrant and adds that certain missing something to many dishes. You know when you’re making soup, you take a taste test and say, “it needs something, but I just can’t put my finger on it”? Try tossing in some ground fennel seed - perfect.

We like it grilled, roasted with other root veggies, sliced fresh and tossed into salads. Recently I saw a recipe for fennel mayonnaise and thought it would be tasty on our grilled salmon. It was!

While this recipe calls for steaming the fennel I think roasting it would intensify the flavors beautifully. I’ll be trying that next time.

Fennel Mayo
From La Cucina Italiana, October 2008

Trim and roughly chop 1 small fennel bulb. Steam until tender (about 5-7 minutes). Let cool to room temperature. In a blender puree the steamed fennel with 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice and a heaping 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt. With the blender running, drizzle in ¼ cup olive oil until smooth.

Makes ¾ cup

Excellent with fish and shellfish.