Best Fennel Spaghetti Recipes

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.

SPAGHETTI WITH LENTILS, TOMATO AND FENNEL

Steps:

• Rinse lentils. Put them in a saucepan and cover with water by 1 inch. Toss in Parmesan rind, if using. Add a good pinch of salt and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until soft, about 30 minutes. Drain lentils and reserve cooking water.
• As lentils cook, put 3 tablespoons oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is wavy, add diced onion and fennel, and season with salt and pepper. Add fennel seeds and red-pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until softened and slightly caramelized, about 10 minutes.
• Add garlic, passata and 2 or 3 tablespoons finely chopped fennel fronds. Stir to combine and add drained lentils. Turn heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes or so, until somewhat thickened. Taste and correct seasoning, then cook for 5 minutes more, so the flavors meld. Add lentil cooking water as necessary to keep everything saucy.
• As sauce cooks, set a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the spaghetti until al dente. Divide among individual bowls and ladle sauce over each serving. Top with shavings of ricotta salata and more chopped fennel fronds. Drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil, if desired.

ONE-PAN SPAGHETTI WITH NDUJA, FENNEL & OLIVES

Steps:

• Boil the kettle. Put all the ingredients except the pecorino and basil in a wide saucepan or deep frying pan and season well. Pour over 800ml kettle-hot water and bring to a simmer, using your tongs to ease the spaghetti under the liquid as it starts to soften.
• Simmer, uncovered, for 10-12 mins, tossing the spaghetti through the liquid every so often until it is cooked and the sauce is reduced and clinging to it. Add a splash more hot water if the sauce is too thick or does not cover the pasta while it cooks. Turn up the heat for the final few mins to drive off the excess liquid, leaving you with a rich sauce. Stir through the pecorino and basil, and serve with an extra drizzle of oil and pecorino on the side.

LAMB & FENNEL SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, heat a little of the olive oil. Add the lamb mince, season and cook until browned, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Drain off and discard any excess fat.
• Add the remaining oil, the fennel, garlic, rosemary and some seasoning, then cook for about 8 mins until soft and golden. Pour in the tomatoes, break up with the spoon, then add the olives. Simmer for about 15 mins until thickened.
• While the sauce is cooking, cook the spaghetti following pack instructions. Serve with grated Parmesan and a green salad, if you like.

SPICY SPAGHETTI WITH FENNEL AND HERBS

Steps:

• Sauté pancetta in large skillet over medium heat until pancetta is golden. Using slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to paper towels. Add 1 tablespoon oil to drippings in skillet. Add garlic and chiles; sauté over medium heat 1 minute. Add fennel; cook until beginning to soften, 5 minutes. Mix in broth, 2 tablespoons parsley, lemon juice, and fennel seeds. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until fennel is very tender, 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cook pasta until tender; drain. Reserve 1 cup cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot.
• Uncover skillet with fennel mixture and return to high heat. Cook until almost all liquid is absorbed, about 4 minutes. Add fennel to pasta. Stir in 2 tablespoons oil, 1/2 cup cheese, and pancetta. Add cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls if dry. Toss pasta; transfer to serving bowl. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons parsley over. Serve with cheese.

SPAGHETTI WITH OLIVE-OIL-POACHED TUNA IN TOMATO-FENNEL SAUCE

Steps:

• FOR THE TUNA
• Add the fennel seeds to a small sauté pan and bring to medium-high heat. (You need toasted fennel seeds for both the tuna and the sauce, so toss 2 tablespoons in the pan now and save a step later!) Toast the fennel seeds, shaking the pan frequently, until they are very aromatic and start to turn a brighter shade of green, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and grind the seeds in a spice grinder or crush with a mortar and pestle.
• Season the tuna belly with salt, red pepper, and half the ground fennel seeds (you're saving the other half for the sauce).
• Preheat the oven to 200°F.
• Put the tuna in a medium ovenproof saucepan and cover with olive oil. Toss in the garlic, bay leaves, and thyme bundle. Cover and put in the oven; cook for 1 hour. Remove and let cool to room temperature. Use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container.
• FOR THE SAUCE AND PASTA
• Coat a large wide saucepan with olive oil and add the onions and fennel; season with salt and red pepper and bring to medium heat. Cook the veggies until soft and aromatic, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes, the reserved tablespoon of toasted fennel seeds, and 1 cup water to the pan and season with salt. Bring to a boil (BTB) and reduce to a simmer (RTS); simmer for 30 minutes.
• Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for 1 minute less than the instructions on the package suggest. Taste it: It should be toothsome with just a little nugget of hard pasta still in the center-this is al dente.
• Remove the tuna from the olive oil, break it up, and add it to the sauce.
• Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce; stir vigorously to combine. Add a drizzle of big fat finishing oil and serve garnished with fennel fronds.
• YOU SAY TOMATO, I SAY SAN MARZANO
• San Marzano tomatoes are, as the name suggests, from San Marzano, Italy, outside of Naples. Sweet and delicious, these canned tomatoes are naturally very low in acid. Sometimes you'll notice people add a pinch of sugar to tomatoes when making sauce-this is not to sweeten the sauce so much as to offset the acid in the tomatoes. When you're using San Marzano tomatoes, this isn't necessary because they're naturally super-sweet and low in acid. However, for this same reason, they need a lot of salt to bring out their best flavor . . . accept it and move on.
• San Marzano tomatoes are perfect for sauce, and they work beautifully with my favorite piece of kitchen equipment: the food mill. It's super-old school but I love using a food mill to purée tomatoes because it lets the seeds slip through, leaving all the big-money stuff up top. Remember, when you put your tomatoes through a food mill, be sure to scrape the pulp off the bottom to get every last bit of tomato-y goodness! This is the stuff that will help thicken the sauce, so you don't want to leave it behind. Got it?

SPAGHETTI WITH SWORDFISH IN TOMATO SAUCE WITH FENNEL

Steps:

• Remove skin from swordfish and cut into cubes. Place in single layer in 9x13" baking dish. In a medium saucepan, combine oil and garlic over low heat. When garlic begins to sizzle add parsley, fennel seed and crushed red pepper. Raise heat slightly and cook, stirring, for 4 min. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Add crushed tomatoes to oil and garlic mixture, season to taste with salt and simmer 5 min. Put a large pot of water to boil for spaghetti. Pour warm sauce over swordfish and place in oven. When fish has been in oven 10 min, begin cooking spaghetti. Bake fish for an additional 10 min, until sauce is bubbling gently and fish is cooked through. Drain spaghetti and return to pot. Add swordfish sauce and toss.

FENNEL-PEPPER SPAGHETTI

Steps:

• Place a large pot of water over high heat to boil the pasta. Salt water and cook pasta to al dente.
• While the pasta is cooking, place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add olive oil.
• Add fennel seeds, toaste a minute, and then add the peppers and onions. Cook for 5 minutes, then stir in garlic and crushed pepper, season with salt and pepper and cook 3 minutes more, then stir in stock and tomatoes. Break up tomatoes with a wooden spoon or potato masher, and simmer the sauce to thicken while the pasta cooks.
• When the pasta is almost done, stir most of the basil and parsley into the sauce, saving a little for garnish.
• Drain the pasta and return to the hot pot with butter, cheese, and sauce, and toss to combine.
• Serve in shallow bowls topped with the extra basil and parsley, as well as extra cheese.

SPAGHETTI WITH FENNEL, ANCHOVIES, CURRANTS, PINE NUTS & CAPERS

Steps:

• Quarter the fennel bulbs. Remove the coarse outer leaves and trim the tips (cut off and reserve any fronds). Remove and discard the core from each quarter, then chop the rest of the fennel.
• Cook the spaghetti in a pan of boiling, lightly salted water. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan. Sauté the fennel until soft, then add the garlic and cook gently until pale gold. Add the anchovies, press with a wooden spoon, then add the chilli. When the anchovies fall apart, toss in the currants, capers, parsley and most of the pine nuts.
• Drain the pasta and immediately add it to the frying pan. Add the lemon juice and season to taste. Toss together, then serve straight from the pan or transfer to a large warm serving bowl. Scatter over the remaining pine nuts and any fennel fronds.