Baked Fennel and Tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9×13 pan with nonstick spray or coat it with butter and set aside.

Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the quartered, cored fennel and cook, uncovered, for about 8 minutes, until it is tender.

While fennel is cooking, melt butter in a medium bowl and set aside. Peel the Roma tomatoes, cutting in half lengthwise. Seed them. Set aside.

Drain fennel well. Toss in a medium bowl with the melted butter, or if it’s room temperature, toss until the butter has melted.

Place the fennel in the casserole dish, cut sides up to help it cook evenly; season with Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.

Place the tomatoes around the fennel and season lightly with Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Bake, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, until the tomatoes have softened.

Remove from oven. Turn on the broiler. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese evenly on top of the fennel and tomatoes. Place in the broiler for a few minutes or until the cheese has browned.

Handling fennel tip:

For a clean trim, cut off any feathery stalks diagonally so that a V shape forms at the point where they meet the top of the bulb (as opposed to cutting them straight across).

To prepare the bulb, cut a thin slice from the bottom end and discard. Pull away the tough outer layers, on the left and right. Make two cuts on the bottom, forming a wide and shallow V, to discard the core.