Braised Fennel Filled with Vegan Cheese

Method

Peel and trim the fennel bulbs and shape like spoons. Place in saucepan in simmering water and cook for about twenty minutes.

Peel a couple of the larger outer leaves from the red cabbage and put to one side. Shred the rest of the red cabbage and peel and slice the onion and apple sweat these in a little oil after adding the bay leaf and cloves.

Sprinkle in the brown sugar and add the red wine vinegar. Allow to cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally so that it does not burn. Then keep to one side.

Peel the carrot, radish and sweet potatoes. Cut the sweet potato into chips. Cut the carrot, radish and courgette with a parisienne spoon (solferino) into small balls. Blanch lightly and reserve.

Make a caramel from the sugar and add the nuts. Pour onto a sil-pat mat and allow to cool. Break into very small pieces.

Cook the wheat then drain and mix with the diced cheese, bind with a little passata and the parsley, Fill into the fennel bulbs and arrange on a tray to bake in oven. Brush with oil and bake for ten minutes on a low heat.

Sweat the outer cabbage leaves in a little oil with red wine vinegar until soft. Lay on cling film then top with the cooked shredded cabbage and roll up in the cling film.

Chop the shallot then lightly fry with fennel seed in a drop of oil in a pan. Add the spinach and the Pernod. Heat through stirring all the time until wilted. Lastly add the almonds.

Arrange the wilted spinach on plates top with the fennel bulb Deep fry the sweet potato chips and place on the plates stacked in a pile

Trim the ends off the red cabbage and cut into sections. Then place on the plates next to the fennel and spinach. Spoon on some more of the Pernod sauce and decorate with some of the blanched vegetable pearls.