Stuffed and roasted fennel bulbs

Andrew is putting the pressure on... he keeps bugging me post that recipe for the stuffed and roasted fennel bulbs... so here it is!

What you need (makes 4)

• 4 large fennel bulbs
• 2 chicken breasts (~350g), cubed
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
• 1 medium sized while onion, chopped
• 6-8 mushrooms, sliced
• handful of almonds
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 tomato, diced
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup water (or white wine, if you have it)

How its done

• Pre heat oven to 450 degrees
• Scoop the inside of the fennel bulb (we used the inside for a salad...). be careful not to carve it too much, or it will fall apart.
• Rub the fennel bulbs with a bit of salt and pepper and place in a roasting dish. Cover and roast for 25 minutes, or until slightly tender.
• Set aside and decrease the over heat to 425 degrees.
• While the bulbs are in the over roasting, add the butter to a pan and saute onions till translucent, then add garlic, mushrooms, chicken, tomato, water, honey, nutmeg and lemon juice. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes over medium heat.
• Remove the lid, add the cranberried and almonds and simemr uncovered for another 10 minutes.
• Stuff the fennel bulbs with the mixture and back uncovered for 10-15 minutes, until the bulbs are lightly browned. 

We made a pretty great salad to go with these, with some greens, avocado, goat cheese, the fennel that was carved out of the bulbs and some pepper.

Picture credit to Andrew...