Preparation time
less than 30 mins
Cooking time
over 2 hours
Serves
Serves 4–6

From Saturday Kitchen
Ingredients
For the boulanger potatoes with ham
- 4 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 small cooked ham joint, thinly sliced
- 3 onions, thinly sliced
- 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 tsp chopped thyme
- 200g/7oz unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
- 1 litre/1¾ pints ham stock
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the fennel
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 fennel bulbs, cut into quarters
- 25g/1oz butter
- 2 tbsp caster sugar.
- 250ml/9fl oz ham stock
For the crumbs
- 1 handful panko crumbs or grated stale bread
- 50ml/2fl oz olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
- 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
Method
Preheat the oven to 170C/150C Fan/Gas 3½ and grease a large roasting dish with butter.
To make the boulanger potatoes, layer the potatoes, ham, onions and garlic in the dish, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go. Dot with the butter and sprinkle with thyme, then pour in enough stock to cover, then cover with kitchen foil and bake for 2 hours, until soft.
To make the fennel, heat the oil in an ovenproof pan over a medium heat and fry the fennel to brown it. Dot with the butter and sprinkle with sugar, then pour in the ham stock, cover and bake for an hour.
Remove from the oven and reduce the liquid over a medium heat, then glaze the fennel in the reduction.
To make the crumbs, heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Toast the crumbs for a few minutes until golden, then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Drain on kitchen paper than mix with the parsley.
Spoon some of the potatoes onto a plate, serve the fennel alongside and top with some crumbs.