Recipe and image by Fiona Hugues
For those who know me or follow me, and even all you sleuths and weirdos who like to stalk me, it’s no surprise that dairy is my desideratum, and I also believe that literally nothing is good without a squeeze of lemon. So with these two ingredients combined, I bring you a high performer in the stakes to be my death row meal. Lemons are now at their best and sliced thinly are a fabulous addition to salads. But don’t panic, Sweetie, I can hear you gasping with horror at the face puckering thought of chewing on raw peel, so I’ve poached them here into a sweet and sour sticky syrup that is, frankly, simply frigging magical. Also I can haughtily say, it’s great served over panfried fish or chicken. I’m sure, actually I’m adamant, that you’ll thank me later.
½ cup caster sugar
½ cup Champagne vinegar or good white wine vinegar
small bulb of fennel, including some stem, shaved (reserve some of the fluffy green tops)
2 small lemons, finely sliced
stracciatella, buratta or fresh mozzarella with a slosh of cream
cold pressed extra virgin olive oil (as expensive as you can afford)
handful of pangrattato (see below)
slivered almonds, toasted (optional)
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
In a shallow pan mix together the sugar and vinegar and add the fennel and lemon slices in a single layer. Simmer slowly over a lowish heat for around 20 minutes until reduced, softened and sticky.
Tear the cheese and layer cooked fennel and lemon over the top. Sprinkle over pangrattato and almonds if using and shower over some torn fennel sprigs. Slosh with extra virgin olive oil and season. Ensure you have fresh bread to mop up the sweet, sticky, grassy juices.
FOR THE PANGRATTATO
stale Italian style bread, baguette or ciabatta, finely sliced
2–3 garlic cloves, crushed
150g butter, melted
slop of olive oil
a couple of teaspoons of finely chopped parsley if you feel like it
To make the pangrattato, pre-heat oven to 180°C fan bake.
Mix the garlic into the melted butter and slosh in a little oil with the parsley if using.
Bread is easier to cut when its stale, and this is a great way to utilise leftover ends. Lay the slices of bread on a lined baking tray and brush garlic butter all over slices and sprinkle over a little salt.
Bake until golden. When cool, crush or pulse in a food processor to a rough crumb. Keep in an airtight container and use to sprinkle on pasta and salads.
