Fennel with cheese

1 lg Round fennel bulb
15 g Butter
2 Shallots
- peeled and finely chopped
5 tb Milk (or slightly more)
25 g Gorgonzola cheese
-OR Dolcelatte cheese
25 g Fontina or Caciotta cheese
25 g Ricotta cheese

A delightful way to eat fennel, where the outer leaves are scoops for
an unctuous cheesy filling. This is an unusual, rich dish that
requires merely a green salad and some warm bread to go with it.

Cut the fennel in half down the middle. Cook in boiling water for 10
minutes or until tender. Drain. Remove the leaves in the centre,
taking great care not to break them. Leave one complete layer of
leaves so that a small bowl is formed in which to pour the cheese.
The leaves you have removed will serve as scoops to eat the cheese.
Some of the broader ones can be cut in half down the middle. Put
these to one side.

In a small saucepan melt the butter, and gently fry the shallots until
soft. Pour on a little of the milk. Crumble in the blue cheese, cut
the Fontina or Caciotta into small cubes, and put these in the pan
together with the Ricotta. Stir together, heating gently until
melted, adding more milk if required, to make a homogeneous, creamy
consistency. Pour into the fennel 'bowls', and finish under a hot
grill so that the cheese just begins to brown and bubble.

Copyright Rosamond Richardson 1996

Meal-Master format courtesy of Karen Mintzias