Casserole of Black-Eyed Peas with Fennel and Tomatoes

This rustic, earthy dish comes from the island of Crete, where the combination of black-eyed peas and fennel is as popular as apple pie and Cheddar cheese in the United States. It's one of those wonderful culinary marriages in which each ingredient makes the other taste better.

Fennel benefits greatly from slow-cooking, developing flavor as it loses moisture. To simulate the flavor of wild fennel (which is what the Greeks use), add a pinch of bruised fennel seeds to the cultivated m