Make sure that you THINLY slice that fennel. The flavors in this dish were great but my fennel was a little too crunchy!
I made this last night for a few friends and it received universally rave reviews. When I make it again I might do half sweet sausage and half spicy. Other than that I wouldn't change a thing. Thanks for an excellent recipe!
We got a bulb of fennel from our CSA, and I didn't know what to do with it. I'm glad I found this recipe. I'm not a huge fan of sausage, but even I thought this was really good. My husband kept going back again and again for 'just one more bite'.
I loved this dish and so did everybody else in the house. I did add a little bit of riccota cheese before topping with the mozzerella. I will def make again.
Followed the recipe exactly except I used sweet Italian sausage instead of hot. Came out AWESOME!! I would suggest however that you saute the fennel for about 10-12 minutes instead of only five. Just keep checking it until it softens up enough. Really the only way you'll get it right is to check it (pick up a piece and eat it!) until it's cooked to a level of tenderness that you like. Also I took the foil cover off and just continued to bake it for another 5-10 minutes instead of turning the broiler on (my baking dish can't be used under a broiler). Great flavor tastes even better the next day and freezes really well. A winner!!
Fantastic flavor. I used Spicy Italian Chicken Sausage to keep it healthy. Love the contrast of spicy sausage against the sweet fennel. The fresh fennel frawns sprinkled on top are a great touch for presentation and extra flavor.
I used ground sausage instead. Loved the flavor of this dish! It's super easy to make too.
WOW!! This was so wonderful! I used hot Italian turkey sausage an Italian blend of shredded cheese 1/8 of a HUGE onion instead of half and didn't have any roasted red pepper but it still turned out so great! I bought some fennel from the farmer's market and was trying to find a recipe to use it in that my husband would still eat - and he did second helpings and leftovers! After reading the other reviews I made sure to slice the fennel as thinly as I could and it was still a little crunchy but it didn't detract from the meal at all. I have tried a lot of recipes from this site but this is the first that turned out like it was supposed to on my first try! The flavor was just wonderful presentation was beautiful not too dry and what flavor! My 18 month old liked it too!
This was soooo good. I used bowtie pasta and eliminated the red pepper and it was amazing. It was like an easy lasagna with using the baked bowtie pasta. Has GREAT flavor way better than ground beef. Will definitely make again!!
Dish was okay but DON'T waste your fennel on this recipe. It didn't add much to it. Sauce covered up any flavor.
