I’d more or less given up on sundried tomatoes until a recent visit to Sardinia. Friends who live there introduced us to a very superior version produced locally. There was talk of lasagne made with carta di musica/pane carasatu instead of pasta, with a sundried tomato stuffing with fontina and wild fennel, which, like prickly pears, grows everywhere. It prompted this rich and juicy, subtly interesting gratin, perfect when there is leftover chicken. It’s National Apple Day today, so apples for pudding!
Serves 4 Prep 20 min Cook 35 min
Ingredients: 1 medium onion; 2 tbsp olive oil; 2 fennel bulbs, approx 500g; 190g sun-drenched tomatoes in oil; 400g cooked chicken; 200g taleggio cheese; 3 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs; 3 tbsp grated Gruyere
1. Halve, peel and finely chop the onion. Soften in 2 tbsp oil in a spacious lidded frying pan while you quarter the fennel lengthways then slice thinly across the pieces. Strain the tomatoes, halve lengthways and cut out the hard core.
2. Stir the fennel into the onion, add ½ (half) tsp salt, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes until wilted yet juicy. Stir in the tomatoes.
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3. Check over the chicken, discarding skin, tearing into bite-size pieces.
4. Chose a suitable gratin dish, approx 5cm deep and spread out half the chicken. Top with half the thinly sliced taleggio, skin discarded. Add half the fennel, remaining chicken and then the last of the fennel. Top with remaining taleggio slices and finish with breadcrumbs and gruyere.
5. Heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Bake for 25-35 minutes until the top is very crusty and the juices bubbling around the side. Serve with green beans or salad.