From Vegetarian Suppers by Deborah Madison

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 Carrot, finely diced
• 1/2 Onion, finely diced
• 1 Celery rib, finely diced
• Several Thyme sprigs or 1/4 teaspoon dried
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 tablespoon Tomato Paste
• 1 cup Dry White Wine
• Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
• Saffron Rice
• 3 large Fennel bulbs, quartered but attached at the core, plus 3 tablespoons greens, chopped
• 4 Basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon Butter

Instructions:

• Heat half the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the carrot, onion, celery, thyme, and bay leaf. Saute until the onion begins to color, about 5 minutes, then work in the tomato paste and cook it a bit. Add half the wine and reduce until syrupy. Season with salt and pepper, then scrape everything into a bowl.
• Start cooking the rice.
• Brown the fennel in the rest of the oil over medium heat, turning every so often, about 15 minutes. Add the diced vegetables back to the pan, tear the basil leaves over all, add a tablespoon of the fennel greens, and pour in 1 cup water. Cover and cook until the liquid has evaporated, 10 to 12 minutes. When the pan is dry, add another 1/2 cup water and continue cooking until the fennel is tender when pierced with a knife, about 15 to 20 minutes. Leave a little liquid in the pan.
• Transfer the fennel and vegetables to a platter, then return the pan to the stove, turn the heat to high, and add the remaining wine and the butter. Scrape the caramelized bits of debris from the pan. When the wine and butter have reduced by half, add the rest of the chopped fennel greens, taste for salt, and season with pepper.
• Scoop portions of rice into a cup or a ramekin, then turn each out onto a plate. Spoon the vegetables around the rice and drizzle with the pan sauce.