Fennel Gratin with Polenta Slices

Ingredients

• 700 g fennel
• 500 g carrots
• 1 bunch spring onions
• 1 EL Butter
• 1 EL lemon juice
• 125 ml whipping cream
• 100 g grated Parmesan
• 50 g breadcrumbs
• 350 g polenta (cornmeal)
• 3 EL butter
• Salt
• Pepper

Instructions

1. 1.

   Wash the fennel, halve it lengthwise, cut off the core and slice into rounds. Set aside the fennel fronds. Peel and wash the carrots, then cut them into eighths lengthwise. Bring plenty of salted water to a boil and blanch the vegetables for 5 minutes; drain and let them dry. Trim the spring onions and slice finely into rings. Butter a fireproof dish, layer the fennel and carrots, sprinkle with onion rings, season with salt, lemon juice, and pepper, then pour over the cream. Mix Parmesan and breadcrumbs together and spread on top, adding butter pieces. Bake in the oven at 200 °C for 20 minutes.

2. 2.

   Boil 1 l of salted water, stir in the polenta, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to very low and cook while stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes until it thickens. Spread the cooked polenta evenly on a baking tray to a thickness of about 1 cm and smooth the surface.

3. 3.

   Cool the polenta, cut into diamond shapes, heat butter in a pan and crisp each side of the diamonds before serving with the gratin.