Fennel-Pistachio Compote

Description

I like to keep the ingredients chunky in this recipe and serve it as a salad. But when I want to use it more as a sauce, I grind it up.

The compote can’t be frozen or canned, so I preserve it in oil, which is only a prophylactic to keep new spoilers out of the jar. Eventually, the compote will ferment.

So make it, refrigerate it, and try to use within 10 days. I serve the fennel-pistachio compote with slices of mortadella, in egg salad, as a dressing for broiled fish, in grilled seafood salads, and even in a pasta dish.

MAKES 1 PINT

Ingredients

• ½ lb fennel (about ½ large bulb), cored
• ½ cup raw pistachios
• ½ cup olive oil, plus more to cover
• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• ½ tsp salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Steps

• Thinly slice fennel, then chop into ½-inch pieces. Pulse-chop pistachios in a mini food processor or with a knife. You don’t want pistachio powder, just crushed nuts.
• In a bowl, combine fennel, pistachios, oil, and lemon juice to taste, garlic, salt, and pepper to taste.
• Have ready 1 sterilized pint jar, band, and lid. You do not need to use a new lid because you will not process this jar. Pack the compote into the jar, leaving about 1 inch of headroom.
• Cover compote with olive oil, leaving about ½ inch headroom.

Compote holds in refrigerator for up to 10 days.

Recipe used with permission from The Kitchen Ecosystem by Eugenia Bone