Happy Winter Solstice! This plant-based delight is the perfect way to celebrate the longest night of the year, and the return of the sun as we begin to move towards longer days. It’s spiced with fennel and saffron and packed full of delicious flavors and textures of apples, onions, and potatoes.

New to foraging? Learn more about ethical and safe foraging (plus how to get started) here!

At first glance, the darkest month of the year can seem like a poor time to go foraging. The landscape is filled with soft browns and golds, drying stalks sticking up above dusts of snow or sparkling with frost. Look a little bit closer, however, and you’ll find the treasures hidden before you. I particularly love the brown wild fennel stalks with their little caps of snow. 

A little nibble of a fennel seed instantly transports me to sunny days, the yellow blossoms bursting forth at the opposite side of the year. Delicate feathery leaves. Lace-like blooms with pollen on the breeze. Ah, the smell of summer on the coast. Early Italian immigrants brought fennel with them to new homes on the west coast, and since then it has spread northwards perfuming the ocean air with its sweet fragrance. I stashed away some of that summertime goodness in the form of dried fennel seeds and a little bit of precious fennel pollen (the dried golden blossoms, which pack a spell-binding floral flavor.) What a perfect time of year to indulge in its summertime sweetness!

Fennel is a plant that reaches back throughout the ages, intertwined with the lore of every civilization it has come into contact with. The historical poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow sums up much of fennel’s lore in his beautiful poem,  “The Goblet of Life” The full poem is touching and worth reading, but I found these three verses about fennel to be extra inspirational: 

“And as it mantling passes round,

With fennel is it wreathed and crowned,

Whose seed and foliage sun-imbrowned

Are in its waters steeped and drowned,

   And give a bitter taste. 

Above the lowly plants it towers,

The fennel, with its yellow flowers,

And in an earlier age than ours

Was gifted with the wondrous powers,

   Lost vision to restore. 

It gave new strength, and fearless mood;

And gladiators, fierce and rude,

Mingled it in their daily food;

And he who battled and subdued,

   A wreath of fennel wore. “

To me, this poem is firstly a praise of fennel’s healing properties - everything from increased eyesight to bravery in battle. The main message I felt from the poem, however, was a reminder of our mortality and a plea to live life to the fullest. On the longest night of the year, death is a common theme; we are in the season of endings and darkness. Perhaps that is why we are so drawn to the fragrances and colors that remind us of sunny days ahead, of life-giving plants and the magic of cycles. 

With every passing winter day, the limited hours of sunlight become ever-more valuable. Earlier and earlier the sun sets, treating us with one final glorious glow before the shadows of late afternoon descend. That’s why we gather so much in Midwinter - the glow of company and good food keep our spirits safe from the desolation of darkness. The Winter Solstice is a day to celebrate! Tomorrow, our day will be just a bit longer than yesterday. Within a week or two, we’ll start noticing the changes in more palpable ways; that pre-dawn morning walk will be filled with a new rosy glow. The evenings that were once total blackness will hold onto that glimmer for just a bit longer. Ah, how wonderful it is that the sun is paying us longer visits again.

This beautiful savory galette is a celebration of the sun. Filled with seasonal vegetables, it packs a lot of flavor into its golden crust. This recipe is an entirely plant-based feast centerpiece, delicious for all who try it! So get out and soak in some of that sweet winter sunshine as you gather dried fennel seeds. Let your senses bathe in the bright yellow colors and crisp textures as you make it. Fennel is the perfect plant to guide us through the dark night of the Winter Solstice. Its sunny floral fragrance is paired with a more exotic spice: deep red saffron threads that give both flavor and color to this savory dish. Both of these flavors are also known for supporting the digestive system after heavy meals and lots of feasting. It is my hope that this special dish not only looks good and tastes good, but also feels good in your body. 

I hope you will be as delighted by this recipe as I was. The fennel slices retain a refreshing crunch, with a bit of tart sweetness from saffron-soaked apples and hearty potatoes. The caramelized onions add a layer of depth and both the fennel seeds and pollen contribute to a bright fragrance without being overly strong. The crust is light, flaky, and wonderfully flavorful even on its own! This is truly a pleasure to create, decorated with the sun we miss and the stars we’ve become more familiar with this time of year.  Serve it up hot, filled with seasonal flavor and a beautiful presentation. I would definitely recommend a good side salad to pair with it as well. 

A quick note on safety: fennel is in the same family as water hemlock and other toxic or poisonous plants. It’s really important to have a solid identification of the plant, so it is best to identify the plant earlier in the year and know what is safe to harvest before winter hits and everything turns brown. If you aren’t completely positive, don’t risk it. Fennel seeds, bulbs, and even pollen can be purchased at grocery stores or found online. 

Wild Fennel Saffron Solstice Galette

Pastry Ingredients: 

Pinch of saffron 

1 Tbs. vinegar

4 Tbs. water 

1 ⅔  c. all-purpose flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp. Turmeric 

¾  c. shortening 

Filling ingredients: 

Pinch of saffron

Zest from one orange

Juice from one orange 

1 tsp. Wild fennel seeds

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 yellow onion 

1 medium crisp apple 

1 small fennel bulb

1 yukon gold potato

2 Tbs. olive oil

½ tsp. Salt 

1 Tbs. aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas), optional - as egg wash

Big pinch of wild fennel pollen 

Directions: 

1. Grind the pinch of saffron in a small mortar and pestle, then add 2 Tbs. very hot water. Let cool to room temperature, then add the vinegar. Put the mixture in the fridge to chill. 

2. Sift together the flour, salt, and turmeric. Pour into a food processor and add the shortening/ butter. Pulse, just until the mixture is the consistency of fine breadcrumbs. Pour back into a bowl. 

3. Add 1 Tbs. of the saffron mixture and stir with a fork. Keep adding it, one tsp. At a time, until you have a firm but workable dough. (Note: it should stick together and not be super crumbly.) Roll it into a ball and then pull off a small piece about the size of a plum. Roll the rest into a ball and flatten into an 8” disc. Wrap both the smaller ball and the larger disc in plastic wrap and put in the fridge to chill for an hour. 

4. Preheat the oven to 400F and place a baking stone on the middle level. Zest the orange and set the zest aside, then juice it and strain for pulp and seeds. Grind the second pinch of saffron in another mortar and pestle, then pour in the orange juice and let it sit for 20 minutes. 

5. Meanwhile, slice the onion into fine slices. Put the wild fennel seeds into a cast-iron skillet and heat over medium-low heat until fragrant - be careful not to burn. Add 1 Tbs. olive oil and the onions to the pan and cook, stirring often, until the onions are translucent and slightly caramelized. Set aside. 

6. Pour the saffron-infused orange juice into a larger bowl. Peel the apple, then cut it into thin slices. Put the slices in the saffron orange juice to soak. 

7. Peel and thinly slice the potato and the fennel bulb (save the greens for something else, like a nice side salad!) Strain the apple slices. 

8. Mix together the 2 Tbs olive oil, salt, and reserved orange zest. Add the potato, fennel, and apple and gently toss to coat. 

9. Roll the disc of pastry dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is an 11” circle. Gently transfer to a baking paper-lined cookie sheet. Spread the caramelized onions on top of the dough circle, leaving 1.5” around the edges. Arrange the vegetables on top, then fold up the sides of the dough to encase the edges. Cover with plastic or a slightly damp clean towel while you make the sun decoration. 

10. Roll the remaining circle of pastry dough out until it is 1/8” thick. Using a sharp knife and circle cutters, cut out a sun design. Use a bit of water to attach little bits to the top and a toothpick to emboss designs on the surface. When you are happy with your design, gently transfer it to a flat plate and stick it in the freezer. 

11. Cut out extra stars from the scraps and place them along the edges of the galette, using aquafaba to attach.  Brush the pastry with a bit of aquafaba for shine, then bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and very gently transfer the sun design on top and brush it with aquafaba. Bake 25-30 minutes more, or until the vegetables are cooked and the pastry is golden brown. (If it starts browning too soon, cover the top of the galette with some aluminum foil or parchment paper halfway through baking.) 

12. Sprinkle with a pinch of fennel pollen and serve warm!

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