I quite like slicing the bulb and including it in pot-roast (particularly lamb). It’s much more subtle cooked. Just slice it up and add it in with any other aromatics (like onion or celery).
I like to shave it thinly with my mandoline, and combine it with an equal amount of shaved sweet mild onion. Then I dress the two vegies in lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, salt and lots of cracked black pepper and let them sit for a little while until they’re halfway limp. It’s a great salad to have before an Italian dinner.
Grate the whole thing in the food processor. Mix it with chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper and quark. Serve over hot potatoes in their skins. Delicious.
And for some added trivia, in italian that’s also slang for gay. As in “Yeah, I know Johnny Cakes, he’s a finoc/finocchio”
ETA, I could understand you sending someone out for, say celery root and have them come back with that, but leek?
Roast it for ten minutes or so at 450 F, tossed with a generous amount of olive oil. Then put seasoned (salt, pepper, maybe some paprika or pimenton - basic stuff) chicken pieces on top and baste with some of the fennel-y oil. Roast for 25-35 minutes, or until done; you can baste the chicken more if you like during the cooking. Serve it with a starch and you have a lovely meal.
Or slice it thinly, toss with orange segments and finely chopped red onion, and a vinaigrette, and you’ve got a great salad. You can throw in a bit of minced rosemary if you like.
(Hey, GilaB, did you go to high school in New England?)
No, New Jersey. And they didn’t serve meat in the cafeteria at all, and they stopped Home Ec the year before I got there. Why do you ask?
While I think they are technically different, the terms are used interchangeably. (and I say this as someone who runs a produce/grocery store that leans Italian and has a large Italian clientele)
Kinda like yams/sweet potatoes.