Fennel And Fennel Seed Pasta Recipes

FENNEL PASTA

Steps:

• Heat up a heavy bottomed pan on a medium-high heat. Trim fennel and cut it into 8 wedges lengthwise. Brush the wedges of fennel and unpeeled garlic cloves with a small amount of olive oil. Place on a hot pan and let fennel caramelise and garlic cloves brown for a few minutes. After fennel is nicely browned on one side, turn it over to the other side and let the other side caramelise and soften. Turn garlic over to the other side and let it brown on the other side too.
• Once fennel is soft, take it off the pan, season lightly with salt and pepper and set aside. Peel roasted garlic cloves and put them through a garlic press or chop them into a small dice.
• Heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil in the same pan. Add roast garlic and chopped tomatoes and let them simmer on low heat until they soften and thicken into a sauce. Mix in some tomato paste, balsamic vinegar and sugar. Season with salt, pepper, chilli and saffron to taste. Add chopped capers and olives.
• Mix in cooked pasta. Serve topped with caramelised fennel (you may want to cut the wedges into smaller pieces so it's easier to eat), toasted pine nuts and fresh parsley.

FENNEL SPAGHETTI

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook the fennel seeds until they pop. Sizzle the garlic for 1 min, then add the lemon zest and half the fennel slices. Cook for 10-12 mins or until the fennel has softened.
• Meanwhile, bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta for 1 min less than pack instructions. Use tongs to transfer the pasta to the frying pan along with a good splash of pasta water. Increase the heat to high and toss well. Stir through the remaining fennel slices, the parsley and lemon juice, season generously, then tip straight into two bowls to serve. Top with the fennel fronds, extra olive oil and parmesan shavings, if you like.

PASTA WITH SARDINES AND FENNEL

Steps:

• In a small skillet, toast bread crumbs in 2 tablespoons olive oil until golden. Season with salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar. Set aside.
• Simmer the fennel fronds in a large pot of salted water until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove and spread out on a platter to cool. Do not discard cooking water. When fronds are cool, chop finely with a large knife (or pulse in a food processor with a little of the cooking water).
• Put raisins and currants in a bowl and cover with the white wine and 1/2 cup hot fennel-cooking water. Add crumbled saffron and let ingredients steep together for 10 minutes.
• In a large skillet, stew the onions and diced fennel in 6 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat until softened, about 10 minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add anchovies, ground fennel and coriander seeds, garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in reserved fennel fronds. Add the raisin mixture and its liquid and bring to a simmer.
• Season the fresh sardine fillets with salt and pepper and lay them on top of the onion mixture. Put a lid on the pan and turn off the heat for about 5 minutes, so sardines cook through and are just done. Stir to distribute chunks of fish throughout mixture. (If using canned sardines, skip this step and simply stir them in.)
• Boil the bucatini in the fennel cooking water (add more water to the pot if necessary). Cook until noodles are on the firm side of al dente, then drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water. Add pasta to pan with onion-sardine mixture, sprinkle pasta lightly with salt and gently toss together, adding a little pasta water to keep everything well moistened. Taste and correct seasoning; it should be well seasoned.
• Transfer to a large platter or wide pasta bowl. Sprinkle with bread crumbs, pine nuts and parsley. Garnish with lemon wedges. Add a drizzle of olive oil, if desired.

SIMPLE FENNEL PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a large, high-sided saucepan filled ⅔ with water to a boil. Add in the pasta along with 1-2 tsp of salt and cook the pasta until al dente, or according to instructions on the package.
• In the meantime, heat up olive oil in a large frying pan on medium-high heat.
• Add the sliced fennel, onion and the sugar to the frying pan and give it a good stir.
• Gently fry while stirring regularly for about five minutes, until the fennel and onion are soft and evenly caramelised to a golden brown color. Turn down the heat a bit if the fennel and onion get dark brown too quickly.
• Season with salt and pepper and stir in the lemon juice.
• Fry for two more minutes, then deglaze the pan by adding the ¼ to ½ cup of starchy water from the pan of boiling pasta. (See note) If you've already drained the pasta at this point, just use tap water. Turn heat to low.
• When the pasta is cooked, drain and add it into the frying pan. Turn off the heat and stir the pasta into the fennel and onion. Adjust sauciness with extra water if necessary.
• Serve up and garnish with the reserved green fennel fronds.Optionally top the pasta with toasted pine nuts or sunflower seeds, or a sprinkle of vegan parmesan.

PASTA WITH GARLIC, FENNEL AND ROASTED RED PEPPER

Steps:

• In a large skillet cook the garlic in the oil over moderate heat, stirring, until golden. Add the fennel, red pepper, dried red pepper and salt to taste and cook the vegetables, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the broth, cover and steam over moderately high heat for 3 minutes, or until tender. Add the drained pasta and fennel fronds and toss to heat. Transfer to a serving dish and serve with parmesan cheese.

PAPPARDELLE WITH SAUSAGE & FENNEL SEED BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• Boil the sausages in their skins in a pan of water for 10 minutes. Cool slightly, then snip off the skins and discard, and finely chop the meat.
• Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Meanwhile heat a non-stick frying pan and toast the fennel seeds for a minute or so to bring out their flavour. Tip the seeds on to a plate, then add the oil to the pan and fry the shallots or onion and garlic for about 5 minutes until soft.
• Stir in the chopped sausages, red wine, tomatoes and tomato purée and simmer for 8-10 minutes or so until the tomatoes have cooked down to make a sauce.
• Drain the pasta, return it to the pan and toss in the sauce with the fennel seeds, Parmesan and parsley. Hand round extra Parmesan at the table.

CREAMY TAGLIATELLE WITH FENNEL

Steps:

• Add the oil to a non-stick frying pan. Tip in the fennel and cook for 10 mins until soft and slightly golden, adding the fennel seeds and garlic for the final 3 mins of cooking.
• Meanwhile, cook the pasta following pack instructions, reserving a few tbsp of the cooking water for the sauce.
• Stir the lemon zest, juice, mascarpone and most of the parsley into the fennel mixture. Heat through then toss in the cooked pasta and a few tbsp of the cooking water. Give everything a good stir and season. Scatter over the remaining parsley and serve.

ITALIAN FENNEL SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine salt, fennel seed and red-pepper flakes. Add pork to the spice mixture along with the garlic, and wine. Using your hands, mix thoroughly for 1 full minute, until the pork begins to appear tacky and sticks to the palm of your hand.
• Heat a cast-iron pan over medium heat. Use a heaping tablespoon of pork mixture to make a small, thin sausage patty. Add a teaspoon or so of olive oil, and cook the patty for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. Taste, and if needed, add salt or any other seasonings to the uncooked sausage mixture and mix to combine.
• Divide and form the remaining sausage into 8 2 1/2-inch patties, placing them on the prepared baking sheet as you go. Cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to come together. (Patties can be made ahead and covered and refrigerated or frozen at this point until ready to use.)
• To cook, wipe out cast-iron pan, and return to medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil. When it shimmers, add patties in a single layer, leaving space between them. Cook 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until browned on the surface and just cooked through.
• Drain sausages on paper towels, and serve hot.