TL/DR – Fennel Frond Pesto Toasts with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese. Who says you can’t enjoy ALL of the fennel? Try these easy and delicious toasts with goat cheese, mushrooms and a vibrant green, tasty pesto made from fennel fronds, lemon, pine nuts, olive oil and anchovies. –
Fennel, AKA anise, is an increasingly popular vegetable found in the produce section. Although it is technically in the carrot family, it’s not a root vegetable. It is a bulb, from which it sprouts a gorgeous green bouquet of stalks and feathery fronds.
The bulb is crisp, sweet and versatile. It’s tremendous in salads or, if sliced thinly, it will melt nicely into a hot, slow cooked soup like Slow Cooker Italian Sausage Soup. Also try Pesto with Fennel and Radishes, or Baked Feta and Lentils.
The stalks and fronds are pretty, but it can feel like a task to figure out what to do with them. They are edible, and they have a very delicate and slightly sweet flavor. They are highly nutritious and they are a natural candidate for great pesto. (I feel like I’m writing a letter of recommendation.)
For this recipe, start by roughly chopping about 4 or 5 cups of fennel stalks and fronds, from about 4 bulbs. If you don’t have that many, just halve this recipe. Place them in a large food processor and add olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, pine nuts, a few anchovy filets and a bit of salt and pepper. Process until smooth.
Toast some thin slices of baguette or other bread of choice. This takes just a couple of minutes on a baking sheet under the broiler. Mix together 4 ounces of goat cheese with a bit of sour cream to make it more spreadable.
Sauté 16 ounces of thinly sliced baby bella mushrooms in olive oil with a bit of salt and pepper. Allow all of the moisture to cook off and hit the pan with some white balsamic vinegar and allow that to cook off, too.
Assemble the toasts by spreading a layer of goat cheese on each, followed by a layer of the fennel frond pesto. Be generous with each. Top each toast with some of the sautéed mushrooms and serve immediately. There will most likely be fennel frond pesto leftover. Keep the remainder tightly covered for up to 4 days and use it spread over poached or baked fish, or toss it with hot pasta. It can also be frozen and thawed out in the refrigerator.
Fennel Frond Pesto Toasts with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese
Delicious toasts with goat cheese, mushrooms and an easy pesto made from fennel fronds, lemon, pine nuts, olive oil and anchovies.
Ingredients
- 4 to 5 c fennel fronds and stalks, roughly chopped, from about 4 bulbs
- 1/2 c extra virgin olive oil plus 2 T
- 1/2 c pine nuts
- 4 anchovy filets
- 2 T lemon juice, from about one juicy lemon
- 1 T lemon zest, from one lemon
- 3/4 t kosher salt, divided
- 1/2 t freshly ground pepper, divided
- 16 oz baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 T white balsamic vinegar
- 4 oz goat cheese
- 2 T sour cream
- 1 large baguette, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
Directions
- Step 1 In a 12 cup food processor, place the fennel fronds and stalks, 1/2 c olive oil, pine nuts, lemon juice, lemon zest, anchovy filets, 1/2 t of the salt and 1/4 t of the pepper. Process until smooth, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sids of the bowl. If it feels too thick, add in more olive oil one teaspoon at a time until it loosens just a bit.
- Step 2 Heat the remaining 2 T olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the mushrooms to the hot skillet along with 1/4 t kosher salt and 1/8 t fresh pepper. Sauté them on medium high heat, stirring frequently, until all moisture is cooked off. Then add the white balsamic vinegar and allow that to cook off. Remove the mushrooms from the heat.
- Step 3 While the mushrooms are cooking off their moisture, mix the goat cheese and sour cream together in a small bowl with a fork until well incorporated. Set it aside. Then heat the broiler and place the baguette slices on a baking sheet. Broil them on high for just about 2 minutes, checking frequently, so they don’t burn. As soon as they are a golden color, remove them quickly from the oven.
- Step 4 To assemble the toasts, spread a generous layer of goat cheese on each, followed by a generous layer of fennel frond pesto. Top each with a few of the sautéed mushrooms and serve immediately.
