Roasted Fennel and Ricotta Gratins with Tarragon...sort of

I found this recipe through cookinglight.com, and decided it looked like something that I could actually do. Well, I mostly did it...had to do some modifications.

I have no gratin dishes or ramekins. (Gasp!) I went to the local big-box store, and they didn't carry them. So I got some little glass dishes, but ended up returning them because they were too big. Oh, well. I also happened to have bread crumbs on-hand, and I'd read where someone else had used those instead of making their own. And I had no tarragon. I did have Ricotta cheese on hand.

So here are my modifications to a recipe that I'd never done with the main ingredient being one that I've never used:
~I used store-bought Ricotta cheese.
~I used pre-made Italian seasoned bread crumbs.
~I didn't use tarragon.
~I did the recipe in a mid-size casserole dish.

So I guess that instead of making "Roasted Fennel and Ricotta Gratins with Tarragon", I made Roasted Fennel and Ricotta Casserole.

It was interesting. I think I liked the flavor, but it was kind of hard to tell over all of the bread crumbs. I think if I make it again (which I probably will), I will double up on the main part of the recipe (so 4 bulbs instead of 2 and twice the ricotta) if doing it in the casserole dish. And I would only use enough bread crumbs to thinly cover it. (It called for 3/4 cup crumbs, so that's how much I used since I couldn't put 2Tbsp on each gratin, and it was WAY too much, which is why I was having trouble with tasting it.) I'll probably also try to use coarser crumbs, so if I don't make my own, maybe use stuffing?

served with chicken/zucchini/pasta

close up... see? all you can see is bread crumbs!