PASTA BOSCAIOLA
- ciacookitalianabroad
Pasta with fennel cream
- Lactose Free
- Vegetarian
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: 20 min
- Cook time: 40 min
- Serving: 4
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PRESENTATION
Pasta with fennel cream starts with a technique that sets this sauce apart: fennel and shallot roasted together in the oven, then blended into something velvety and enveloping rather than the sharper, greener result you'd get from a quick sauté. That slow roasting draws out a gentle sweetness from the fennel that you simply can't replicate on the stovetop, and the blended cream coats gnocchetti sardi — small, ridged Sardinian pasta — in a way that feels both delicate and deeply savory. Parmigiano Reggiano goes in twice, first folded into the sauce for structure and depth, then shaved over the finished plate for a little extra richness in every bite.
Toasted hazelnuts bring the crunch that keeps each forkful from feeling one-note, while thyme, marjoram, and sage reinforce the fennel's natural freshness without competing with it. Together, the herbs lift the cream just enough to remind you there's real vegetable character underneath all that smoothness. It's a refined first course that comes together more easily than it looks — the kind of dish that feels considered and a little unexpected, especially if your guests aren't used to seeing fennel treated this way.
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INGREDIENTS
- Gnocchetti Sardi pasta 3.3 cups (320 g)
- Fennel 1.1 lbs (500 g) - to be cleaned
- Shallot 2.5 oz (70 g)
- Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheese 1.8 oz (50 g)
- Extra virgin olive oil to taste
- Fine salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- For garnish
- Whole peeled hazelnuts 1.4 oz (40 g)
- Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheese 1.1 oz (30 g)
- Thyme to taste
- Marjoram to taste
- Sage to taste
Preparation
How to prepare Pasta with fennel cream
To prepare the pasta with fennel cream, first trim the fennel by removing the ends 1 and the outer layer 2, then slice them. Set aside the fennel fronds which you will use for plating. Trim and roughly chop the shallot as well 3.
Spread the fennel and shallot in a baking tray, then season with salt 4 and olive oil 5. Bake in a preheated conventional oven at 392°F for 35 minutes. During the last 10 minutes of cooking, place the hazelnuts on a separate baking sheet in the oven as well, until toasted 6.
At this point cook the gnocchetti sardi in boiling salted water 7. Remove the baking tray with the fennel from the oven 8 and transfer everything to a jug, then pour in a ladleful of the pasta cooking water 9.
Blend with an immersion blender 10 to obtain a smooth and homogeneous cream 11. Pour the cream into a skillet 12.
Drain the gnocchetti al dente and transfer them to the skillet with the fennel cream 13. Stir to coat them evenly, then finish off the heat with a drizzle of olive oil 14, grated Parmigiano Reggiano 15 and a grind of pepper.
Mix everything well 16. Put aside for a moment and roughly chop the toasted hazelnuts 17, then make shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano with a vegetable peeler 18.
Plate the pasta and garnish with the chopped hazelnuts 19, the fennel fronds 20 and the marjoram 21.
Also perfume with thyme and sage 22. Finally, complete with the Parmigiano Reggiano shavings 23. Your pasta with fennel cream is ready to be served 34!
Storage
Tip
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