Penne with baby fennel in white wine
I just adore baby fennel (and in fact, fennel bulb in general) – this recipe takes most of its flavour from the fennel, with very little else to confuse it.
Can obviously be made with cream, if you want it richer and easier to do, just leave out the flour. We don’t usually have cream, so this is our mid-week alternative and it’s fairly close (and much healthier)!
Baby fennel with white wine and lemon zest
Ingredients
- 400 G Baby fennel Regular fennel works just as well
- Olive oil
- 1 Onion
- 3 Cloves garlic
- Zest of a lemon
- 1 Tbsp Cake flour
- 1/2 Cup White wine
- 2 Cups Milk
- 1 Tsp Soya lecithin
- Half a lemon
- Cooked penne pasta
Instructions
- Chop the baby fennel in half through their thin edge, or if using regular fennel, slice into 1/2 cm slices lengthways, through the thin edge (to keep the shape of the bulb intact.If your fennel comes with some stems, trim off, chop and fry with the onions in the next step.Fry in Olive oil over high heat until turning brown and soft, but still slightly crunchy.Remove from pan.
- Reduce heat to medium and fry onion, lemon zest and garlic with a little more oil or water if necessary, until soft but not yet coloured.
- While that is cooking, blend the milk with the soya lecithin in a food processor.Add the flour to the onions and stir for 30 seconds until combined, but don't let it burn. Add the wine to the pot and stir to combine. Boil down for a minute or so until there is no more visible liquid.
- Reduce heat to medium low. Add the milk/lecithin mixture to the pan and stir well to combine. Once smooth, return the fried fennel to the pot, bring to the boil, season with salt and loads of black pepper, and add a final squeeze of lemon juice right before serving. Serve over cooked pasta with white wine (obviously!).
