Sicilian Fennel Pie.

A complete and humble dish from the Sicilian peasant tradition.
Easy to make, and you only need a few ingredients. The important part is a good Sicilian seasoned breadcrumbs made to perfection, and then the béchamel that is part of the ancient French culinary school which in Sicily made the perfect match with local ingredients, giving birth to the famous pies and the Sicilian anelletti.

The pancetta or ham was made on the Nebrodi Mountains with our famous “Nebrodi black pig” while the provolone is the very famous “Ragusano D.O.P.
You can cook the Sicilian Fennel Pie in an electric oven, wood oven, or microwave with a combi-micro-grill.

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Cost: Economical
Preparation time: 30 Minutes
Portions: 6
Cooking methods: Oven
Cuisine: Regional Italian
Region: Sicily
Seasonality: Autumn, Winter, and Spring

387.20 Kcal

calories per serving

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Energy 387.20 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 39.15 (g) of which sugars 5.56 (g)
Proteins 16.54 (g)
Fat 18.01 (g) of which saturated 9.75 (g)of which unsaturated 7.76 (g)
Fibers 4.44 (g)
Sodium 665.55 (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

Let’s do the shopping

10.5 oz fennel (thinly sliced)
1 egg
2 tbsps flour (heaping)
7 oz breadcrumbs (Sicilian seasoned see recipe)
17.5 oz béchamel (see my recipe click)
2.8 oz pancetta (or diced ham)
2.8 oz provolone (Ragusano DOP)

A look at health

Tools

What we need to make

1 Knife
3 Bowls
1 Pot
1 Baking Dish 10 x 6
1 Oven

Steps

Let’s go to the kitchen to prepare

Prepare the breadcrumbs by following the my recipe click here, it’s very simple.
Clean and slice the fennel into 1/4 inch slices.
Place the slices in a bowl
and dust with flour so they are well covered
Now beat the egg and pour it over the floured fennel, and mix them with your hands
Now take each fennel slice and bread them in Sicilian seasoned breadcrumbs, pressing well with your hands.
Set aside.
Prepare the béchamel following my recipe, click here, and cut the provolone and pancetta into cubes.
Take a rectangular baking dish 10 x 6 inches or a round one with a 9-inch diameter
Cover the bottom with a ladle of béchamel,
Make a layer of breaded fennel,
then add a little pancetta or cooked ham, whatever you have in the fridge and
then another little bit of béchamel and so on
until the ingredients run out.
In the last layer, make sure it’s covered with béchamel, if you have leftover breadcrumbs and finally cold cuts and provolone
Transfer the Sicilian Fennel Pie to a preheated oven at 350°F for 20 minutes, then raise the oven to 400°F and use the grill function for 5 minutes.
For those with a combination microwave, you can cook the Sicilian Fennel Pie for 28 minutes in combi-micro-grill mode at 750 watts
Here is the Sicilian Fennel Pie ready, serve it warm.