Baked Fennel with Cambozola

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons bread crumbs dried fine
• 2 cups fat-skimmed chicken broth 
• 5  heads fennel (each)
• 0.8 cup gorgonzola cheese 
• 12 servings salt 

Equipment

• frying pan
• oven
• slotted spoon

Directions

1. Trim stalks from fennel. Reserve about 1 cup of the feathery green fennel leaves. Trim root ends, bruised areas, and coarse fibers from fennel heads. Rinse, then cut each head in half from stem through root end.
2. Lay fennel in an 11- to 12-inch frying pan; add broth. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat; simmer until fennel is tender when pierced, about 20 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer fennel, cut side up, to a shallow 2- to 2 1/2-quart casserole.
3. Boil broth, uncovered, over high heat until reduced to about 1/3 cup. Coarsely chop fennel leaves and add about half to the broth. Spoon mixture evenly over fennel.
4. Mash cheese with bread crumbs. Dot evenly over fennel.
5. Bake in a 375 oven until cheese begins to brown and fennel is hot, 25 to 30 minutes (35 minutes if chilled).
6. Garnish with remaining fennel leaves; season to taste with salt.