Fennel and cherry tomato crumble gratin

serves 4 as starter

Ingredients :

1 kg fennel bulbs

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp thyme leaves, plus a few whole sprigs

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tbsp sea salt

1 tsp pepper

200ml whipping cream

100g breadcrumbs

1 tsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

100g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

300g cherry tomatoes, on the vine

Method :

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Trim off the fennel stalks and cut each bulb lengthways in half. Cut each half into thick slices if you have big fennels. Cook in a big pot of boiling water for 5 mins and drain. Once you can handle the fennels and they have cooled off a bit place them in a large bowl with the olive oil, thyme leaves, garlic, salt and pepper and toss together. Transfer to an ovenproof dish and pour the cream over the fennel. Mix the breadcrumbs with the grated parmesan and parsley and scatter evenly on top.

Cover the dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and arrange the tomatoes on top. You can leave some on the vine and scatter some loose. Scatter a few thyme sprigs on top. Return to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes. By now the fennel should feel soft when poked with a knife and the gratin should have nice golden colour. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for a few minutes. Serve hot or warm.