Roasted Fennel and Yellow Beets with Tahini Sauce and Za’atar Sourdough Breadcrumbs

I found thiss gem in the depths of my camera roll and I can’t let it stay there any longer. This was one of the first things I made when first moved into my place. I remember being like “this is bussin’” because I took this picture in 2021 and that’s what we said back then. I never posted it to instagram at the time but I frequently follow this formula when I’m making up recipe and it still sounded fire so I had to share it. This ROASTED FENNEL AND YELLOW BEETS WITH TAHINI SAUCE AND SOURDOUGH ZA’ATAR BREADCRUMBS combines two polarizing vegetables together (for the first time ever) in an easy (to me) recipe that can easily be converted into a soup. Say less, I’m there.

Ingredients

• 3 Yellow beets, peeled and chopped into 2 inch wedges

• 2 Fennel bulbs, cut into large wedges, stalks removed, fonds reserved

• Olive oil

• S+P

Tahini sauce

• 1 table spoon tahini

• 1 table spoon water

• 3 tablespoons labneh or yogurt

• 1 table spoon lemon juice and zest

• 1/2 teaspoon toasted cumin, ground

• salt

• pinch of cayenne or minced jalepeno

Za-atar bread crumbs

• bagette or sourdough lightly pulsed in your high speed blender

• olive oil

• Z’atar that you bought in Dearborn and suspiciously brought back in your carry-on or the best possible, most authentic option you can find where you live

• 2-3 fresh garlic cloves, use your judgement

• salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 320 F, line a sheet tray with parchment paper.

2. Pulse the bread in the blender until small but also chunky.

3. Drizzle the bread crumbs with olive oil and toss on cutting board until combined. Bake until ligtly golden brown, stirring often as the break crumbs on the outside of the sheet tray brown faster than the ones on the inside, maybe every 3-4 minutes. When the break crumbs are golden, take out of the oven and immediately microplane in 2 garlic cloves and mix in well. The residual heat of the bread crumbs and the tray will cook the garlic. You can place in the oven for one to two more minutes if you like less intense garlic taste. You can do this ahead of time and have them on hand as well. When the bread crumbs are almost cool, sprinkle in the za-atar and mix to combine.

4. Turn the oven up to 400 F. Line another sheet tray with parchment paper.

5. Peel and cut yellow beets into 1 in wide wedges and cut the fennel into 1/4s or 1/6s chunks, depending on the size of the bulb, keeping the core intact so the wedgers stay together. Toss with a generous amount of olive oil and a good pinch of salt and spread evenly spaced on the sheet tray. bake until golden on the bottom, stir and place back into the oven until most sides are crispy and GBD (golden, brown and delicious).

6. Make the sauce. Combine the tahini, water, yogurt, cumin, lemon juice and zest and optional cayenne or seranno. If you are so inclined you can also microplane in additional garlic clove. You can also omit the garlic from the bread crumbs and add it here instead. This is a very flexible. recipe. You could also add chopped parsley here. Thin out this mixture with water, table spoon by tablespoon and salt to taste.

7. Plate the dish. Spread a generous amount of the sauce on the plate, place the roasted veggies over the sauce and sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top. Enjoy.