Recipe - Pasta With Fennel Tomato Sauce

1 pound Spaghetti
Olive oil
2 teaspoon Garlic; minced
One fourth teaspoon Crushed red pepper
1 Fennel bulb (approx 11/2
cups); minced
1 Crushed tomatoes
1 Orange (zest only)
Salt and pepper
One fourth cup Cream (optional)
1 Parsley; chopped

1. Get a large pot of salted water going for the pasta.

2. Gently saute the onion in a little oil until it softens, then add the
garlic and crushed red peppers. Cook another few minutes, but don't let
the garlic brown.

3. Add the fennel and stir. Cover and sweat until the fennel softens,

about 10 minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes and orange zest. Simmer uncovered for about 15
minutes, then salt and pepper to taste. (If you're using cream, stir it in
after about 10 minutes, then let the sauce continue to simmer another 5
minutes or so.)

5. Give the sauce a 5 or 10 minute head start, then cook the pasta. When
it's done, drain and combine the pasta and sauce in the large pot. Stir to
coat the pasta evenly and let it cook a moment so the spaghetti absorbs a
little of the sauce. Then dump it into a serving bowl, scatter parsley
over all, and serve.

Note on Fennel: It's sometimes marketed as anise. The bulb is the best
part. Standard procrdure for fennel is to whack off the stalks, quarter
the bulb lengthwise and cut out the base like you would for cabbage. At
that point it's ready for slicing or dicing.

Having said the bulb is the best part, I should say that there's nothing
wrong with the stalks. in fact, if you were stuck with a small bulb, you
can dice a stalk and use it in this recipe. The major difference is that
the stalks are more fibrous, like celery. Actually, the stalks are pretty
good to eat raw instead of celery (provided you like licorice).

Contributor: Patricia Wells at Home in Provence Preparation Time: 45:00

Posted to MMRecipes Digest by Jack Elvis jackelvis@moonlink.net on Apr
26, 1998