Tutorial: Preserve Wild Fennel.
In southern Italy, the quintessential wild herb in the kitchen is undoubtedly wild fennel.
It imparts an unmistakable flavor to foods. This aromatic plant can also be enjoyed as an infusion to experience its beneficial properties.
It’s an ingredient I use a lot to flavor my dishes, I often gather it in the countryside near my home, and around the Ganzirri lakeside.
But like any wild herb, it suffers from drought, so for many months of the year, it appears dry.
Then it’s up to us to know how to preserve it, in the various ways we know, depending on how we want to use it.

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Cost: Very economical
Preparation time: 2 Hours
Cooking methods: No cooking
Cuisine: Regional Italian
Region: Sicily
Seasonality: Fall, Winter and Spring

808.55 Kcal

calories per serving

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Energy 808.55 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 0.00 (g) of which sugars 1.00 (g)
Proteins 1.20 (g)
Fat 93.33 (g) of which saturated 13.33 (g)of which unsaturated 0.00 (g)
Fibers 2.22 (g)
Sodium 141.00 (mg)

Indicative values for a portion of 200 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA^* and FoodData Central^** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.

^* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ^** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

Ingredients

Tutorial: Preserve Wild Fennel

7 oz wild fennel
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Tutorial: Preserve Wild Fennel

Tools

Jars
Blender / Mixer
Plastic bag
Grater

Tutorial: Preserve Wild Fennel

Wild fennel is a spontaneous plant of the southern regions. It can be found in fields, or more recently due to its rather sought-after use, even in organic stores or supermarkets.
You need to wash it multiple times, then leave it to soak for 20 minutes, and rinse it again.
After draining it, lay it on a cotton cloth, and let it dry for 2 hours.
If after a while you see the cloth has become soaked, then change it or flip it to the other side.
The first preservation method I present is under oil: Place the desired amount of wild fennel in your food processor and add enough extra virgin olive oil to allow the processor to blend.
This depends on the machine you’re using.
Once you’ve achieved the creaminess you desire, stop the processor, and…
With the Thermomix, I used speed 5 at first and gradually increased to 10 until I saw the desired consistency through the lid.
Transfer the obtained mixture into previously sterilized glass jars.
At this point, decide
1st option, if you will use the fennel within 3 months, you can store it in the fridge.
2nd option is to transfer the fennel pesto into ice cube trays, then into the freezer and use as needed.
3rd option, you can sterilize the jars for 30 minutes in boiling water; in this case or the first, once opened, the jar should always be kept in the fridge and consumed within 1 month.
Moreover, every time you take a bit of pesto from the jar, as a consequence, the oil level drops, so you need to add a little more, to avoid the mixture oxidizing, as is done with any oil-preserved product.
The other preservation method, the one without oil, works as follows: Place the fennel in a freezer bag, remove all the air, and place it in the freezer. The next day, blend it, and you will obtain a powder, which you will gather.
and put it back in the same bag as before, squeezing it tightly until it forms a single clump, a sort of ball.
So every time you need it, you just grate it like cheese, and then put it back in the freezer.
This procedure is the most suitable for teas or for those who want to use fennel during low-calorie diets.