Saffron infused fennel with a walnut and herb crumb

Saffron infused fennel with a walnut and herb crumb ingredients fennel bulbs 2 large or 4 small (about 700g) vegetable stock 175ml,...

Saffron infused fennel with a walnut and herb crumb ingredients

Heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Remove and discard the darker green stems of the fennel bulbs, but reserve any fronds. Cut lengthways into 1cm-thick slices you should get about 8 from 2 large bulbs or 10-12 from 4 small bulbs. Put the slices into a 20 x 30cm baking dish, so that they all sit in a single layer.
Mix together the stock, saffron and olive oil, pour over the fennel slices, season, cover the dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
Whizz the parsley and rosemary with a pinch of salt in a food processor until very finely chopped. Add the walnuts and orange zest, and whizz to coarse crumbs.
Take the fennel from the oven, remove the foil and baste each slice really well. Return to the oven, without the foil, for 10 minutes or until almost all of the liquid has evaporated.
Remove from the oven and spoon some of the crumb on top of each slice. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes until the crumb is lightly browned and the liquid reduced. Serve garnished with the reserved fennel fronds.