It had been some time since I last posted recipes of delicious main courses, perhaps because lately, I’ve been more engaged with cookies and fish main dishes, neglecting the section I care about the most! It seems paradoxical since I consider myself a pasta lover par excellence! I love all types and shapes of pasta, and whenever possible, I like to invent original and tasty sauces and dressings to enhance them! What better opportunity than the one that presented itself the other day with the purchase of three bunches of wild fennel? If you’ve been following me, you must have appreciated one of the Sicilian culinary tradition dishes, pasta chi masculini. Well, after satisfying my soul by faithfully reproducing my dear maternal grandmother’s recipe, I did justice to the fennel leftovers with two other recipes, one of which is this one! It is an absolutely surprising first course both visually and in taste. It contains all the properties of this wonderful plant and the quality of a very coarse type of pasta, perfect to embrace the creaminess of the condiment. Indeed, the pesto’s consistency envelops it, while its unmistakable aroma predominates, leaving space for contrasting flavors, thanks to the acidity of the sun-dried tomatoes and the citrus note of Sicilian oranges. If like me, you don’t like to be ordinary, this is the recipe for you! Let yourself be carried away by these intense and intoxicating flavors that will make you travel, at least with your mind and palate, to my beloved land!
Below you’ll find other recipes to make the most of wild fennel and enjoy its unmistakable aroma and properties:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter, and Spring
Ingredients:
- 320 g tortiglioni (or penne rigate)
- 60 g sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1 mandarin peel (or untreated orange)
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 bunch wild fennel
- 40 g Sicilian pecorino
- 35 g almonds (or hazelnuts)
- 30 g pine nuts
- 1 clove garlic (or garlic powder)
- 50 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pinch salt
Preparation:
Start by preparing the pesto of wild fennel following the steps in this recipe until you get a smooth and homogeneous cream.
Add half of the grated peel of mandarin and mix.
Meanwhile, cook the tortiglioni according to the times indicated on your package, in the same pot where you blanched the fennel, and adjust with salt.
Drain them, then dress them with the pesto, diluting with 1-2 ladles of cooking water that you have set aside, and toss gently with a spatula.
At this point, drain the sun-dried tomatoes, place them on a cutting board, and cut them into thin strips with the help of a knife.
Plate the dish garnishing with a drizzle of raw oil, a handful of sun-dried tomatoes in strips, and the remaining orange peel. If you like, add some fresh leaves of parsley.
And voilà… your tortiglioni with wild fennel pesto and sun-dried tomatoes are ready to be enjoyed!
Bon Appétit from La Cucina di FeFè!
Tips, notes, variations, and suggestions
🟣 If you like, you can make this dish even more tempting by adding a handful of toasted pine nuts, or some capers under salt well-rinsed under running water, or some anchovy fillets in oil. A delight!
