How to pickle and preserve fennel
Finocchio cotto con limone ed aglio
Easy pickling and preserving prolongs an otherwise too short fennel season with several weeks. Here’s a recipe on how to preserve fennel.
The thing is that I adore fennel and like to use it in all kinds of salad, gratins and flans. And right now 3-4 giant bulbs can be bought for 1-2 euro at our local market. This is far more than even addicted fennel lovers we can possibly eat, so I’ve started preserving the veg with lemon and garlic. The preservation takes away the attractive crispiness of the raw fennel, but it prolongs the season with 2-3 months when kept in sterilized jars sealed with olive oil.
Afterwards the fennel can be reheated and served as a strong and aromatic sidedish to meat or cold as an antipasti starter. And the juice can be used as a tasty basis for a nice pasta sauce.
Ingredients
4 fennel
6 cloves of garlic
1 lemon
Olive oil
Salt, pepper and fresh rosemary
Preparation
Clean the fennel and cut them in wedges
Peel garlic and fry them in olive oil till golden brown
Add fennel along with 1 liter of water and the lemon cut in halves.
Boil under lid for 30 minute until the sauce has been reduced by 2/3
Add salt and pepper to taste
Place the fennel in a sterilized jar.
Cover it with cooking liquid and a top layer of olive oil and seal the lid.
Preserved fennel will keep for 2-3 months in an airtight container.
Once opened the jar should be placed in the refrigerator.
You can sprinkle preserved fennel with fennel leaves, rosemary or rosemary flowers, and serve it with all kinds of meat.
More fennel recipes
Italian Notes
Italian Notes
This is genius! I wadore fennel an will def try this awesome pickle!! Grazie
do you drain the fennel from the liquid before you bottle it?
No, I just leave it in the pickling liquid and seal it in an airtight jar. Sorry I didn’t make this clear from the start.
So you don’t put rosemary in the jar, it’s only to be used when you serve it?
That’s right. I think the taste of rosemary would become too pervasive otherwise.
How do you seal the lid? Do you place in water bath to can? Or simply close the lid?
It depends on how long, it is going to keep. If it s less than 3 month, I just rinse the glass in a preservative solution and seal the lid, before the fennels cool down. That will keep them under pressure until the lid is opened again.
Is the garlic sliced or whole?
I use it whole.
Also, what quantity does it make, how many jars of what size? Thanks.
It depends on the size of the fennel bulbs and the size of the jar. I normally store this amount in one jar containing 1 litre.
Can I can the fennel so it lasts through the winter? I have grown a lot this year.
I’d think so, if you manage to clean and seal the jars properly and keep them unopened in a dry, dark place. I’d also use preservatives ie. antioxydant and antimicrobial, if I want pickles to last more than 3 months, but generally I prefer to eat it all up within the allotted time.
Hi I just wondering if I can the final as I have a lot this year. And I would like it to last through the winter thank you in advance
It’s absolutely understandable, but even pickles are most attractive in the first months, after they have been made. I hate to see homemade pickles go to waste and prefer to use some of the excess produce of the season for e.g. fennel pesto.
Thank you for this post. I have never tried fennel before but after reading about it in my seed catalog for gardening I decided to try to grow it in my garden this year. It was easier to grow than I expected. I just harvested all that grew. I had to use two bags, about the average size of a Walmart bag, to bring them from my garden into my home. I can’t wait to try this!
I love stories of anything surpassing expectations. I hope you’ll like the recipe.