I know. Sounds sexy, right? All those Italian words strung in a row. But don’t be fooled. It’s just a salad; a really, really delicious salad. Finocchio, more commonly known as fennel, has a distinct licorice taste when it’s raw, but after you grill it, the sweetness absolutely shines. Its pairing with oranges is extremely traditional and a salad is more than common. Let’s kick it up a notch with some pine nuts, thin sliced red onion and bacon. Impress your girl or man with this sexy salad.

Ingredients

4 strips Maple Leaf Bacon

1 large bulb Fennel

3 Oranges, supremed and juiced

¼ Red onion, thinly sliced

3 cups Arugula

¼ cup Toasted Pine Nuts

¼ cup Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Directions

1. Grab your oranges. Cut them into supremes. This is a method of prep that rids the pith entirely so that there is absolutely no bitterness. If you’ve never supremed an orange, just YouTube it. There are a bunch of videos showing you how. Don’t discard the remains and preserve as much juice as you can. We need this for later!

2. Grab your fennel. Cut it in quarters, then cut roughly ¼“-½“ slices. Toss these in almost all of your olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

3. Grab your onion. Using a sharp knife, cut slices as thin as you possibly can. Don’t take a chunk off your finger though. Be careful, please!

4. Grab your cut fennel. Throw it onto a hot BBQ and grill for anywhere between 5-8 minutes per side. You want to get nice grill marks on both sides. By the time you’re done they’ll have gone sweet and slightly soft but still retain a bit of their bite.

5. Grab your plate. Place some arugula down and a few pieces of your grilled fennel on top.

6. Grab your orange supremes. Place a few of these over your fennel. Squeeze some of the juice from the remaining orange over top. There should be even some juice left in the bowl containing the supremes. You can use that, too!

7. Grab your toasted pine nuts, thin sliced onion, and crispy bacon pieces. Garnish and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and do your best impression of an Italian. Holy Finnochio!