Finocchio e patate al forno (fennel and potato bake)

This simple side dish, from the lovely book Sharing Puglia, goes very well with a nice piece of fish.  Serves 6 and very easy to make.

Ingredients
60ml olive oil
Olive oil, extra, for drizzling
1/2 cup rosemary leaves
1/2 cup fennel fronds
4 large all purpose potatoes, peeled
4 large bulbs fennel, sliced 1cm thick
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/3 cup grated pecorino or parmesan
salt and freshly ground pepper

Making it
1. Put the potatoes in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to a simmer and cook till potatoes are par boiled. Drain, allow to cool, then cut into 1cm thick slices
2. Meanwhile, bring a separate saucepan of water to the simmer, add the fennel slices and simmer for 5-6 minutes, strain into a colander and allow to cool slightly
3. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees fan forced. Put the 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a roasting dish, add the rosemary, and allow to heat a little so that the rosemary flavours the oil. Remove from oven and take out about three quarters of the rosemary leaves, put them in a bowl and combine with the fennel fronds
4. Layer the potatoes and fennel in alternating rows in the roasting dish, seasoning well with salt and pepper as you go, drizzling with a little oil, and sprinkling through the rosemary and fennel frond mixture
5. Top with the breadcrumbs and cheese, give a final drizzle of olive oil and bake for 30-40 minutes until golden.