Rather than using a mortar and pestle, Ina Garten prefers to cut fennel seeds. In a YouTube video on her Food Network, she says she releases oil from her seeds, so she’s better off chopping herself. Barefoot Contessa roughly chops fennel with a knife. She explains that when fennel is cooked, it softens and releases all the delicious flavors. Garten says ground fennel loses its flavor. This is another reason she prefers to chop whole fennel seeds in the Penne Arrabiata recipe.
Fennel seeds are well incorporated into various recipes that require spices. The New York Times has recipes ranging from pork and fennel sausage rolls to melon and avocado salads with fennel and chili. Love and Lemons explains that fennel caramelizes during cooking and shifts to a sweet, soft textured flavor. Raw fennel is crispy and has a fresh celery-like licorice root flavor. The next time you need fennel in your recipe, skip the mortar and pestle and chop the seeds instead.
