Roast Fennel and Chickpeas

2 fennel bulbs, fronds and stalks kept
1 x 400 g tin chickpeas, drained
250 g cherry tomatoes
1 red onion, cut into wedges
4 cloves garlic, skin on
1 lemon, halved
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1⁄2 teaspoon chilli flakes
Salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 220 C. Fennel needs a hot oven, as under 200 C the outside dries before the middle softens.

Pull the feathery fronds off and stand them in a cup of cold water. They wilt within hours of coming out of the box and they are the best part of the plant.

Trim the base of each bulb, then stand it upright and cut into six wedges through the root so the layers stay held together.

Slice the stalks into 2 cm lengths and keep them with the wedges. They sweeten in a hot oven, and binning them wastes a third of the bulb.

Toss the fennel, onion, chickpeas and garlic with two tablespoons of oil, the fennel seeds, chilli, salt and pepper.

Spread in a single layer in your largest tray, as crowding steams the fennel instead of colouring it. Roast for 25 minutes, then turn the fennel over.

Add the tomatoes and the lemon halves cut side down, and roast for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the fennel edges are deep brown and a knife slides through the thickest wedge without pressure.

Undercooked fennel squeaks against the teeth and stays sharp, so give it the extra five minutes if you are unsure. Small bulbs are done at 35 minutes all up, big ones take closer to 50.

Squeeze the roast garlic out of its skins and mash it into the pan juices with a fork. Squeeze the roast lemon over the tray and scrape up the sticky brown bits from the base.

Chop the revived fronds and scatter them over with the last tablespoon of oil.

Serve warm with thick yoghurt and bread, or spooned over couscous. The chickpeas that catch on the edge of the tray go nutty and crisp. Leftovers keep three days and are better at room temperature the next day.

Any fennel you do not roast keeps a week in the crisper if you wrap it, and spare fronds freeze in a bag for stock.

foodgarden.com.au