Pan Fried Fennel with Toasted Almonds and Grapefruit Dressing

Brace yourself, you're about to devour this fennel. If you have never had fennel or are looking for a new and exciting way to prepare it, you must try this version. This dish is full of flavor, varying textures and a whole lot of yum.

Here are some visual tips before you begin or use as you go!

This anchovy is already deboned but as you can see, sometimes tiny bones still remain. It is not required to remove these but it is recommended.

Pan Fried Fennel Salad with Toasted Almonds and Grapefruit Dressing

½ cup toasted almonds

4 large fennel bulbs

4 anchovies rinsed deboned & chopped

3 cloves grated garlic

⅓ cup Juice from one grapefruit

7 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp yellow mustard

3 Tbsp chopped parsley

1 Tbsp fennel fronds

Salt & freshly-ground black pepper to taste

In a 10- to 12-inch dry skillet, over medium-low heat, toast the shaved almonds until they are fragrant and lightly golden in cover. Remove from heat and set aside.
While the almonds are toasting, chop off the top half of the fennel, removing the fronds. Thinly slice off the bottoms, divide them in half and cut out a small triangular piece out of the core, making sure to not cut all the way through the bulb.
Chop 3 ½ of the fennel approximately 1 cm thick.
With the remaining half fennel piece, shave it thinly on a mandolin or cut as thin as possible and set aside. These will remain raw and added to the dish at the end.
In the same skillet you used for the almonds, over medium high heat, pour a light layer of olive oil into the pan. Pan should be fully warm before adding fennel. Once warm, add the fennel 3 ½ chopped fennel to the pan, stirring the pan to coat the fennel with oil. Once the fennel is coated in oil, leave it to cook without stirring for 5 minutes. This will allow the fennel to caramelize.
While the fennel cooks, in a medium bowl, stir together the grapefruit juice, mustard, and olive oil and set aside.
Once the fennel has developed a nice deep caramel color, stir the pan cooking for 2 minutes more.
Grate the garlic. Chop and debone the anchovies.
Turn heat down to medium and add the garlic and anchovies.
Mix until fully incorporated and cook until the garlic has softened and the anchovies have dissolved, approximately 1 minute.
Remove from the heat. Mix in half of the chopped parsley, half of the sliced almonds and all the remaining raw fennel. Pour about half of the dressing over the salad and mix to combine.
Season with salt and pepper and plate.
Add the remaining almonds, fennel fronds, and chopped parsley to the top of the salad. Drizzle several tablespoons of the dressing over the salad until a small amount of the juice collects at the bottom of the plate. (You may not use the entire amount of dressing). The fennel should be drizzled, not drowning in dressing ;)
Serve immediately