Pasta With Sardines And Fennel Recipes

Steps:

• Wash the bulb fennel tops, and cut off hard parts of the stalks and the tougher sprigs. Save bulb for some other dish. Cook fennel tops and dill in three quarts salted water until tender, about 15 minutes. Scoop out fennel and dill, and set aside. Reserve fennel cooking water for cooking the pasta and moistening the sauce as it cooks.
• Soak currants (and tomato, if used) in saffron-tinted hot water for 10 minutes.
• In a wide, heavy skillet, gently cook the onions in the olive oil until they are soft and golden. Add the anchovies and crush them with the back of a fork. Cook one minute. Remove from heat.
• Roughly chop the fennel and dill (this can be done using the metal blade of a food processor and the on/ off button).
• Place the chopped fennel and dill, currants, tomato if used, soaking liquid, ground fennel seed, pine nuts and one-half cup of the reserved fennel cooking water in the skillet. Simmer, stirring, for two minutes to blend flavors. Fold in the sardines, crushing a few of them into the sauce. If sauce seems too dry, add a few tablespoons of the fennel water. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and set aside. Makes about two cups and can be prepared to this point in advance.
• Twenty minutes before serving, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cook the pasta in the reserved water and boil until barely tender. Drain pasta; toss with half the sauce and arrange in a baking-serving dish. Spread the remaining sauce on top. Cover with foil and set in the oven for five minutes. Serve very hot. Pass a cruet of olive oil.

Steps:

• Finely chop fennel bulb. Combine saffron, raisins, and wine in a bowl.
• Cook onion, fennel bulb, and seeds in oil with salt to taste in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until fennel is tender, about 15 minutes.
• Add wine mixture and half of sardines, breaking sardines up with a fork, and simmer 1 minute.
• While sauce is cooking, cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente, then drain in a colander.
• Toss hot pasta in a bowl with fennel sauce, remaining sardines, fennel fronds, pine nuts, and salt and pepper to taste. Add bread crumbs and toss again.

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente according to package instructions, about 8 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine oil and pine nuts in a large saute pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until nuts are lightly toasted, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add onion, sliced fennel, garlic, and salt to pan; season with pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft and light golden, 9 to 10 minutes. Add sardines; stir in lemon zest and juice. Chop reserved fennel fronds; stir into mixture.
• Drain pasta, reserving about 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Add pasta to mixture in pan along with enough cooking water to coat; toss to combine. Divide among four serving plates; grate lemon zest over each. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Bring a large pan of water to the boil, with a splash of oil, then add the pasta. Cook following pack instructions, adding the broccoli for the final 5 mins.
• Meanwhile, gently heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onions and sliced garlic, and cook slowly for 2 mins. Add the fennel and cook for a couple more mins, until softened. Flake the sardines into the pan and stir around for a few more mins to break them up.
• Tip the pasta and broccoli into the pan with the pine nuts, raisins and lemon juice. Toss together to let the pasta absorb the oil, season well and serve immediately, scattered with lemon zest and chilli flakes.

Steps:

• Cook the pasta following pack instructions until al dente. Meanwhile, drain the oil from the sardines into a large frying pan set over a medium heat. Add the fennel, garlic and lemon zest, then cook for 10 mins, stirring often, until the fennel is tender and starting to colour.
• Drain the pasta, reserving a little of the cooking water. Tip the sardines (and the whole chillies from the can, if you like) onto the fennel. Break the fish up a little with a wooden spoon, then add the capers, parsley, pasta and 2 tbsp lemon juice. Season to taste. If the pasta seems a little dry, add 2 tbsp of the cooking water and stir gently. Pile onto plates and drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil, if you like.