CookEat Recipe
Fennel Sformato
Tender fennel pieces in a light egg and Parmesan mould, served hot after gentle cooking in a water bath.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 500 g trimmed fennel bulbs; 45 g butter: 20 g for fennel, 20 g for white sauce and 5 g for the mould; 200 ml milk: 100 ml for fennel and 100 ml for white sauce; 5 g plain flour, weighed; 3 eggs, beaten; 30 g grated Parmesan; Salt; Water for boiling and the water bath.
Step 2
Remove the tough outer layers of the fennel and cut the tender bulbs into small wedges. Boil in lightly salted water for about 8–10 minutes, until partly tender but not fully cooked. Drain very well.
Step 3
Put the fennel in a pan with 20 g butter and a little salt. Cook gently until it has taken up the butter, then add 100 ml milk. Continue gently for about 10–15 minutes, until the fennel is tender and the milk is absorbed.
Step 4
Meanwhile, melt a separate 20 g butter with the flour in a small saucepan. Add the remaining 100 ml milk gradually and stir until smooth and lightly creamy. Mix this white sauce into the fennel and remove from the heat. Leave the fennel in pieces for the main version, or pass the mixture through a sieve for a smoother alternative. Let cool fully before mixing in the Parmesan and three beaten eggs.
Step 5
Heat the oven to 160°C. Butter a smooth 1¼-litre mould with the remaining 5 g butter and line the base with baking paper. Add the mixture and set the mould in a roasting pan with hot water halfway up its sides. Bake for about 40–55 minutes, until set and at least 74°C at the centre. Turn out after a brief rest, remove the paper and serve hot, by itself or beside cooked capon. A smooth ring mould of the same capacity can be used in the same way.
Step 6
For the optional giblet-and-sweetbread topping, use 150 g professionally prepared veal sweetbreads and 150 g cleaned chicken giblets: 50 g gizzard, 50 g heart and 50 g liver. Blanch the sweetbreads for 5 minutes, cool briefly in clean cold water, remove the membrane and tough tubes, then press lightly in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Cut into small pieces. Trim and chop the giblets, checking that the gizzard lining has been removed.
Step 7
In a saucepan, gently cook the gizzard in an additional 20 g butter with about 250 ml prepared meat broth for 30 minutes. Add the heart and simmer another 20–30 minutes. Add the prepared sweetbreads for the final 20 minutes and the liver for the final 8–10 minutes. Extend cooking until all the pieces are tender and reach at least 74°C, adding broth as needed; reduce to a light jus and season with salt and pepper. Spoon this hot mixture over the sformato or into its ring centre. These topping ingredients are additional; allow about 3½ hours total for the topped version.
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