Pbenjay's Blog

Fennel CDC (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

OMG! This dish is so simple yet the flavors were deliciously complex.  I could not stop eating it last night and I will be making it again soon.  I think it’s  a dish to serve to company, Peter thought otherwise.  He said he loved the taste but felt it didn’t have enough substance. MMMMmmmm I thought about that and then decided he wasn’t the person to judge a pasta dish like this one because he would never order a pasta with an alfredo sauce, or spaghetti carbonara, or linguine aglio e olio.      For him, pasta has sausage, meatballs or vegetables or clams or mussels.

My cousin Janet (I like to call her Janie)  gave me this recipe.  When I was making it, I realized that the directions mentioned butter but I hadn’t written butter in the ingredient list – what to do?  I went online of course and found a recipe that was almost identical to hers minus the native seasoning, which is a blend of herbs produced by a company founded by  her sister (my cousin) and her husband.

Thanks Janet.

Here it is:

1 lb of Farfalle or Penne

A slab of pancetta about 3″ by 1/2″ – diced – you can also buy pancetta already diced in a package

1 bulb of fennel – chopped including fronds

1 TBS dried fennel seeds

1/2 cup of cream or half & half – I used about 3/4 cup

1-2 minced garlic cloves

1/2 onion chopped – I used a whole small one

3 TBS unsalted butter

grated Parmesan or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Saute pancetta in sweet butter till crisp, add garlic, onion, fennel, fennel seeds to pan.  I used a braising pan.  Stir frequently till all is soft .  Cover pan.  

Add cooked pasta to the pan and toss with mixture.  Add the cream.  Sprinkle liberally with grated cheese.

Enjoy!