I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, because if I did then my number one AND two would have been broken for the past few YEARS: cook through my recipes and cook with more diverse foods! Thanks to Presidents Day, a little holiday afforded me the time and the inspiration to try TWO new recipes! Something possessed me to pick up fennel at the market this week and while I can’t remember actually consciously eating fennel up to now something in me decided that we needed to cook it!
Keeping with the homemade and new recipes theme, I found a delicious tomato dressing/compote recipe Martha Stewart.com (link below) and what was it drizzled over? That’s right…fennel. It was a sign from the cooking gods! Below I’ve worked in both recipes into the overall preparation of the meal but will have links to the specific recipes below. The recipe below served 3 people healthy portions but there was only leftover pasta. If you want leftovers to enjoy I suggest doubling the fennel and sauce portion of the meal.
This meal is Meat-free, dairy-free (if you omit the Parmesan like I do) AND Vegan; if you use gluten-free bread & pasta it’s also a gluten-free option as well! Look at the endless possibilities!
Ingredients
Pasta
- 1/2 package pasta of your choice ( I used Angel Hair)
Garlic Bread
- Whatever rustic loaf you like
- Optional- Parmesan or Dairy Free Cheese for the garlic bread.We love the grated blend Parmesan from DeLaurenti that we pick up fresh from Pike Place
Roasted Fennel
- 3 fennel bulbs (choose with thick base), stalks cut off, bulbs sliced
- EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
Tomato Dressing:
- EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
- 10 ounces (1-pint container) grape or cherry tomatoes
- minced garlic (to taste in all recipes, I don’t measure much!)
- 2/3 cup dry red wine
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon red-wine vinegar
- Pre-heat oven to 400°F.
- Chop top of fennel stock off, wash bulb and cut as shown below. (Note, the lovely photography is from the Simply Recipes site, I didn’t remember to take a photo of this step). You can wash your tomatoes at this time also if you’d like.
- Lay out baking sheet with aluminum foil over it. Toss the fennel in olive oil. This time I used a bowl to coat, which resulted in a bit too much olive oil on the fennel, next time I suggest laying out on a baking sheet and brushing with an OXO Basting Brush.
- Crack fresh pepper over fennel and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
- Roast for 30-40 minutes, until fennel is caramelized.
Prep the garlic bread on aluminum foil so it’s ready to put in the oven! I use my handy dandy Misto Sprayer and spray some EVOO over the bread, drizzle with minced garlic, fresh cracked pepper, and dried parsley. If you’re doing cheese (Being lactose intolerant I don’t use the cheese but it’s still quite delicious!) add the cheese on the top.- When fennel has about 25 minutes left start the water to boil the water for the spaghetti. Add the spaghetti when the water boils and cook to your desired tenderness.
- In a medium pan, drizzle olive oil for the tomato dressing over medium heat. Add the tomatoes when the pan is hot. Make sure you keep swirling the pan around so that all the skins have a chance to cook.
- Add the garlic, red wine, and balsamic vinegar to the dressing pan, mixing well. Simmer until the liquid reduces and tomatoes start to get soft (about 5 minutes). At this step I cut the tomatoes in half with my spatula to allow the juices to mix.
Stir in sugar, salt, and red-wine vinegar, and cook for 1 minute.- When there is 10 minutes left on the fennel timer, stick the bread in the oven to toast and the cheese has melted.
- Serve and enjoy a culinary masterpiece!!
My overall review: I think this is one of the best meals I’ve ever made!! The savory grilled and caramelized flavor complimented the liquorice taste of the fennel blended, which perfectly with the tomato balsamic sauce and the texture of the pasta. Add some grilled potato garlic bread and it was simple divine!!!
Recipes this meal was inspired from:
Roasted Fennel Recipe
Warm Tomato Dressing
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