Name: Sgombri al Finocchiello (Mackerel with Wild Fennel)
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: a small handful of wild fennel fronds, chopped (see Cook’s Tips); 4 carrots, chopped; 6 small onions or shallots, chopped; 1 large celery stick, chopped; sea salt and ground black pepper; a small bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley, leaves chopped; 1 garlic clove, chopped; juice of ½ orange; 5 cm/2 in piece of unwaxed orange peel, chopped; 1.2 kg/2½ lb fresh mackerel, cleaned; 45 ml/3 tbsp olive oil; 15 ml/1 tbsp tomato paste diluted with 15 ml/1 tbsp hot water or stock (see Cook’s Tips)

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Italian Regional Cookbook

By Valentina Harris

Published 2017

About

Le Marche is a coastal region and fish plays an important part of the daily diet in the towns and villages that dot the shoreline. Fishermen and their families generally eat their smaller catch, often salted to preserve it for longer, and sell the larger and more profitable fish. Although mackerel isn’t considered to be a much sought-after fish, it tastes superb when cooked with care and with some thoughtfully chosen ingredients, such as fennel.