Baked Apples with Candied Fennel and Pistachios: 2000s Recipes + Menus : gourmet.com

2000s Recipes + Menus

Serves4

Active time:20 min
Start to finish:2 hr

December 2008

In our Egg Salad with Lemon and Fennel, fennel contributes juicy crunch and a nice hit of bright flavor. Here, the leftover fennel goes in a decidedly different direction: Candied in a sugar syrup, it has a softer snap and becomes more mellow. Along with pistachios, golden raisins, and fennel seeds, it makes a sophisticated filling for baked Gala apples. Many baked-apple recipes are too homey for company, but this version, with its spectrum of greens and golds, would be the highlight of any dinner party menu.

1/2 fennel bulb, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
3 (3-inch-long) strips lemon zest
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
4 Gala apples
1/3 cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons golden raisins
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
Cover fennel with cold water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, then drain. Return fennel to saucepan and stir in sugar, water (3/4 cup), zest, and fennel seeds. Gently simmer, uncovered, until fennel is tender and translucent and liquid is syrupy, about 45 minutes. Cool fennel slightly in syrup.
Core apples from top using a melon baller, leaving about 1 inch intact at base. Arrange apples in a baking dish just large enough to hold them.
Transfer fennel with a slotted spoon to a bowl (reserve syrup and zest) and add pistachios and raisins. Finely chop zest and stir into fennel mixture. Fill apples with some of mixture, reserving remainder.
Stir 1 Tbsp lemon juice into reserved fennel syrup and pour over apples. Add butter to baking dish and bake apples, covered with foil, 25 minutes. Uncover and bake, basting occasionally, until tender, about 25 minutes more.
Stir remaining fennel mixture and lemon juice to taste into syrup in dish. Serve over apples.