Should we call it a fennel flan or do we prefer baked fennel gratin with cooked ham and homemade béchamel? Honestly, I couldn’t choose — nowadays many recipes are labelled as flans while others are defined as gratin.
You decide, but be sure to try this easy and quick recipe! Here’s a secret: my father might even call it a fennel gâteau or a baked fennel tart. He knows only a few cooking terms, and when he doesn’t know a name he replaces or invents one — my father and his partner always make me laugh.
I’ll also explain how to make homemade béchamel with Grandma Licia’s recipe, following simple and practical steps to prepare this cream to use in the baked fennel gratin. Adding Emmenthal cheese will give even more taste and flavor to this fennel flan, and a good sprinkle of grated cheese will create that delicious, crispy crust everyone loves!
I don’t know if you know, but a few years ago I didn’t like fennel at all. Then I learned to eat it and, above all, to cook it! From that small beginning with this new ingredient I created many recipes that I’ve shared with you over the years — you can find them below. Each link will take you directly to the recipe you choose to read, from sweet and sour baked fennel to the baked fennel gratin with breadcrumbs.
Fennel season runs from autumn through spring; in summer the bulbs become quite woody. It is an inexpensive, easy and quick ingredient to clean and use for our recipes.
Before moving on to the recipe, remember that I’m waiting for you every morning in the Facebook group and fan page of Le Ricette di Bea with the Recipe of the Day! An unmissable moment to start the day together!
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4 servings
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter and Spring
- Energy 584.68 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 26.54 (g) of which sugars 11.56 (g)
- Proteins 29.37 (g)
- Fat 40.03 (g) of which saturated 19.53 (g)of which unsaturated 11.64 (g)
- Fibers 3.91 (g)
- Sodium 1,171.35 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 300 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 for four servings of Baked Fennel Gratin with Cooked Ham
- 4 fennel bulbs (medium-large)
- 7 oz cooked ham (or another deli meat of your choice)
- 1 1/4 cups béchamel (in my case homemade)
- 1 cup grated cheese (Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano)
- 3.5 oz Emmenthal (or another semi-soft cheese)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch pepper
- to taste fennel seeds
- 1 2/3 cups milk
- 3 1/2 tbsp butter
- 6 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch nutmeg
Tools for the Baked Fennel Gratin with Béchamel and Cooked Ham
- 1 Baking dish
- 1 Small saucepan
- 1 Hand whisk
- 1 Small bowl
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Oven
- 1 Spoon
Steps for Baked Fennel Gratin with Cooked Ham and Homemade Béchamel
Take the butter straight from the fridge and put it in a small saucepan with relatively high sides. Let it melt, then add the measured flour. Start mixing with a hand whisk so that the roux doesn’t burn. Keep the heat low so the flour doesn’t darken.
Begin adding the milk slowly, in a thin stream, into the saucepan while continuing to whisk. This will prevent lumps. The béchamel cooks in about 5 minutes.
During this time you should keep whisking continuously, adding a pinch of salt and a pinch of nutmeg. The amount is a matter of taste — it depends on how much flavor you want to give your homemade béchamel and what dish you’ll use it for. Since we’ll use it as a binding ingredient between the fennel, the ham and the cheeses, I decided to give my béchamel an intense hint of nutmeg.
Let the béchamel cool completely by transferring it to a small bowl.
After preparing and letting the béchamel cool, we can proceed with making the fennel flan. Preheat the oven in conventional (static) mode to 374–392°F. Place the rack in the middle of the oven. Start by slicing and washing the fennel, cutting even-thickness slices if possible. Take the small bowl where you set the béchamel to cool. With a spoon moisten the bottom of the rectangular baking dish; you can buy the glass dish I use for my recipes here.
Arrange the fennel slices close together to form a layer. Lay the cooked ham slices over the fennel — you can cut them slightly thicker than usual. Then slice the Emmenthal (or another semi-soft cheese you prefer) into not-too-thin slices and place them here and there.
Brush everything with béchamel, sprinkle with grated cheese, add a pinch of salt and nutmeg. If you like, add some pepper. Finally, add fennel seeds if you enjoy them and want to give extra flavor to this flan.
Now repeat all those steps — layers of fennel, cooked ham, Emmenthal, béchamel, grated cheese, salt and nutmeg. I recommend generously sprinkling the top layer with grated cheese so the surface becomes that beautiful, golden and crispy crust we all love.
We’re finally ready to bake. Bake the baked fennel gratin at 374°F in conventional mode for 30 minutes. The fennel will turn golden and super tasty, with the cheese wonderfully melty. Absolutely finger-licking good. A simple preparation with unique flavor, a rich side dish, perfect for winter and for accompanying meat or fish main courses.
I just have to wish you a good meal and remind you I’m waiting for you every day on my blog with many easy, quick and delicious recipes like this one!
Tips and variations for the recipe:
Respect the oven temperature: don’t set it too high or the surface of the flan may darken too much — just as you shouldn’t raise the stove heat too much when preparing the homemade béchamel. Too high a flame will burn the flour and butter, rendering the roux unusable.
As for baking time, stay between 25 and 30 minutes at most; if your oven heats and cooks quickly, reduce the baking time.
For variations, as already mentioned in the recipe text, you can replace the cooked ham with another deli meat to your taste — perhaps something you already have open in the fridge or those two or three slices you bought at the deli that your child didn’t want for dinner. You can use multiple types of deli meats to make this baked fennel tart; no one will judge, and it helps reduce waste by using ingredients you already have.
Another variation: as already indicated, you can change the type of cheese. If you don’t like Emmenthal, choose a Bel Paese, a Galbanino, Gruyère or Fontina — in short, any cheese you prefer.
