You can have this assembled well in advance and put in the oven at the last minute.
Seres 6-8
Crumble:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
4 oz. freshly grated parmesan cheese
Gratin:
2 1/4 lb. (about 1 large or 2 small) fennel bulbs, cut into pieces about of 1/2 to 1 inch
Kernels from 1 ear of corn (about 1 cup)
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves + some extra thyme sprigs
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 tbsp. sea salt (reduced from the recipe’s 1 tbsp.)
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 cup heavy cream
11 oz. (about 1 1/2 cups) cherry tomatoes.
2 tsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Make the crumble: combine the flour, sugar and butter in a medium bowl and mix together with your hands until the mixture has a uniform crumb texture (don’t over mix or it will become dough-like). Stir in the grated parmesan cheese.
3. Assemble the gratin: in a large bowl, combine the fennel, corn, olive oil, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper and toss together.
Transfer mixture to a 9 x 13 baking dish. Pour the cream evenly over the mixture then spread the crumble evenly over the top. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.
4. Remove the aluminum foil and scatter the cherry tomatoes and a few thyme sprigs over the top of the gratin.
Return the dish to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes until the fennel is soft, the top of the gratin is lightly golden and the tomatoes have shriveled a bit.
Sprinkle over the chopped parsley and serve hot or warm