Perfect recipe for shaved fennel salad

This fennel salad recipe is absolutely perfect with shaved fennel, a lemon dressing, buttery pine nuts, salty olives and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

When we tasted this shaved fennel salad for the first time, our reaction was immediate: Wow! It’s crunchy, a little salty, sour and so good that it’s hard not to stop at one portion.

If you already love fennel, this is a must. And if you’re on the fence, this might be the recipe that convinces you. I won’t go so far as to say it will change your life, but I think you’ll think about it long after the bowl is empty. For more, try this Arugula Fennel Salad with Orange.

Key ingredients

• Fennel: Choose fennel bulbs that are mostly white with light green tops. They should feel firm and heavy for their size, with no brown or soft spots. For this recipe, we use the bulb (the lower part) and a handful of the feathery green tops. You can save the stems for homemade vegetable broth or chicken stock.
• Lemon vinaigrette: Inspired by this lemon vinaigrette, you’ll combine fresh lemon juice, Dijon mustard, honey, salt, pepper and olive oil.
• Shallot: To add some bite to the salad, I add thinly sliced ​​shallots (half a small shallot does the trick). To cut through some of the raw onion bite, leave the sliced ​​shallots in the lemon vinaigrette for 5 to 10 minutes before tossing the rest of the salad ingredients.
• Pine nuts: These give a little crunch and buttery taste. I love them, but if you can’t find them or they’re too expensive, substitute sunflower seeds, pepitas, sliced ​​almonds, or chopped cashews.
• Parmesan: I love Parmigiano-Reggiano and shave it into the salad. Pecorino-Romano would also be nice. A crumbled feta cheese or even creamy goat cheese would be different, but quite lovely in this salad.
• Oliver: Choose green olives, such as Castelvetrano. Kalamata olives are too salty/salty in this salad.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to make my favorite fennel salad

Tip 1: Make the vinaigrette. In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the lemon dressing (lemon juice, lemon zest, Dijon mustard, honey, salt, pepper and olive oil). Then add thinly sliced ​​shallots. Set the bowl aside for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the shallots to soften and sweeten slightly (the lemon juice tones down their sharp onion flavor).

Tip 2: Prepare the fennel. Fennel can look funny if you are not familiar with cooking it. Most of the time, you will buy fennel bulbs with long stems attached. Here’s how to make this salad:

1. Cut the stems from each bulb.
2. Pull off about 2 tablespoons of the green, feathery leaves and reserve. Discard the stems or save them for stock.
3. Cut the hard, browned bottom of the bulb.
4. Stand each bulb upright and split it in half from top to bottom.
5. Use a paring knife to remove the hard core by cutting a small triangle around it.
6. Using a mandoline, thinly slice the fennel crosswise (about ⅛ inch thick).

Tip 3: Assemble the salad. Toss everything in the bowl with the vinaigrette and shallots (the sliced ​​fennel, toasted pine nuts, parmesan and chopped olives). Then use pliers to give it a really good pull. You can serve it straight away, but the fennel softens and tones down slightly with a rest in the fridge.

Serving suggestion

This salad works when you want something fresh and crunchy on the side. I especially love it with Chicken Milanese or Pork Milanese. It’s incredible next to pan-roasted chicken, oven-baked salmon and fish sticks and it works really well as a slaw with pulled pork or even carnitas (not traditional, obviously, but still delicious).

This also works really well as a Thanksgiving salad or for the holidays! I love it next to roasted turkey.

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