White Bean and Fennel Gratin
By: chopchop
Published: Friday, March 5, 2010 - 3:36pm

Ingredients




15 ounces white beans  (you can use Great Northern, but I really like using Lima beans for
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onion (¾ lb)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic (6 large cloves)
1 bulb fennel, stalks and base removed, thinly sliced
1 (14-oz) can crushed whole tomatoes, puréed or finely chopped with juice
salt and pepper to taste
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a baguette)
1/2 cup finely grated Gruyere cheese

Preparation

1 Heat oil in medium skillet. 2 Sauté the onion for 5 minutes, until soft. 3 Add the garlic and fennel and cook for another 5 minutes. 4 Add the tomatoes and simmer another few minutes. 5 Stir in tomato paste until mixed, and add tomato fennel mixture to beans. 6 Pour into large casserole dish. 7 Make bread crumb topping: Melt butter in skillet over moderate heat, stirring, 1 minute. 8 Stir in bread crumbs and cook, stirring, until pale golden, about 2 minutes. 9 Remove from heat and stir in chopped parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper. 10 Crumble over bean mixture. 11 Top with cheese and bake for 30 minutes.

About


I developed this recipe when I was working at a French restaurant and we were serving a lot of regional dishes. It started off as a variation on Cassoulet, and then morphed into this when we hit Provence. I adore fennel; just cutting into it makes me happy.
From http://thedailygrindchopandfry.com/