Caramelized Fennel Lemon Pasta

In Season #3

Hello friends. Hope you enjoyed your weekend—the temperature is definitely rising here in Toronto, so I want to make use the last of early spring produce. One of my fav veggies is fennel, but I fear it’s often under appreciated. I won’t deny that it tastes like liquorice, which is a pretty polarizing flavour, but I’m telling you it transforms when it’s cooked down in some olive oil. The liquorice flavour changes into something sweeter but still nuanced, which pairs so well with citrus.

I prepped a batch of preserved lemons about a month ago now, and they are finally ready to use. They were super easy to make—here is a link to the video with the recipe—but you can use fresh lemon instead, which I’ve done many times before in other recipes. When lemon, and I mean whole lemon, peel and all, is caramelized, it gets sweeter and jammy. And the lemon-fennel combo is perfect in a pasta dish, so here we are.

Caramelized Fennel Lemon Pasta

Serves 3-4

• 2 tbsps olive oil

• 1 tbsp butter

• 1 medium bulb of fennel, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

• small pinch of salt

• black pepper to taste

• 1/4 of a preserved lemon, finely chopped +1 tbsp brine OR 1/4 of a fresh lemon, finely chopped + 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 tsp dry tarragon (sub dried thyme)

• 300g pasta of your choice, I used cannolicchi

• 1/4 cup veggie broth or dry white wine

• 1/2 cup reserved pasta cooking water

• 1/3 cup grated parm

• parm and olive oil for serving

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil, salt generously and add your pasta and cook until al dente. Heat olive oil and butter in a large pan over medium heat.

   1. If using fresh lemon, add it to the pan with a small pinch of salt and fry for 2-4 minutes or until soften and caramelized. Remove from the pan a then add the fennel and stir, frying until the fennel is cooked down (5-10 minutes or so).

   2. If you are using preserved lemon, fry the fennel first with a pinch of salt for 5-10 minutes, then add the preserved lemon pieces and fry for another 2-4 minutes.

2. Add the garlic, taragon and black pepper and fry for another 2 minutes. Add the veggie broth or white wine and scrape any stuck bits off the bottom of the pan. Allow the liquid to reduce.

3. Add back in the fresh lemon pieces at this point if that’s what you used, along with your cooked pasta, 1/4 cup of pasta cooking water, the parm and the preserved lemon brine/fresh lemon juice. Stir until a sauce forms and coats the pasta. Add more pasta water as needed.

4. Serve the pasta with another sprinkle of parm and a drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy!

Such a simple pasta dish yet not one you’ll see every day. Hope this makes you love fennel if you don’t already. I’ll see you soon.

-Raquel xx

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