Serves 8

Slice fennel wafer thin and refresh in ice-cold water to crisp it up (again, you can do this the day before). It is delicious served in a salad with scrunches of smoked salmon. I then add thin slices of lemon cooked gently in sugar syrup. Any leftover lemon slices can be stored in their syrup in the fridge for up to a month.

2 medium bulbs fennel
1 large lemon
3 tbsp caster sugar
3 little gem lettuce hearts
100ml vinaigrette, preferably home-made
About 500g sliced smoked salmon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Slice the fennels lengthways into halves and using a small sharp knife, cut out the cores. Then rub the cut side of the fennel on a mandolin blade or use a Japanese slicer. You should have wafer-thin slices
of whole fennel.
2 Drop these into a large bowl of ice-cold water and soak for 20 minutes. Drain well and pat dry with a clean tea towel.
3 Using a razor-sharp serrated knife, cut the lemon into wafer-thin slices. Dissolve the sugar in 100ml boiling water, then lower in the lemon slices and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Drain the slices, pat dry and cool. (The syrup can be used in a fruit salad, don’t waste it). Cool the slices.
4 Pull the lettuce hearts into leaves. Mix together the fennel, lettuce, lemon slices and vinaigrette. Season well.
5 Lay down a large platter (or divide between 8 small serving plates). Peel off the salmon slices and scrunch up into rose shapes. Arrange these on top of the leaves. Grind over black pepper and serve.

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