Pasta al finoccio

19/8/2012

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I only recently tried fennel. I don't know why it took me so long - I love fennel seeds so much that I try to sneak them into almost every recipe I make. 

Having finally got round to it, I now love it - quite a subtle taste compared to the seeds but fresh with a slight crunch to it.

Dave's not a huge fan of pasta, but I thought I could get away with this as he finds it hard to say no to any sausage recipe. To make me happy, it's a full on fennel feast - the fresh fennel, fennel seeds and fennel sausages.

Ingredients:

A packet of 6 Sicilian sausages (Sainsburys)
3 bulbs of fennel, thinly sliced
2 tbsp oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp fennel seeds
A squeeze of garlic puree
Small glass of white wine
400g chopped tomato
1 tbsp tomato puree
Pappadelle pasta
4 tbsp parmesan (plus extra to serve)

How to make it:

1.  Put the pasta water on to boil.

2.  Fry the onion and chopped fennel until it starts to soften.

3.  Remove the sausages from their skins and break into chunks.

4.  Stir in the fennel seeds and garlic.

5.  Add the sausage and brown, using your big metal spoon to break it up.

6.  Add the wine and allow to simmer for a couple of minutes.

7.  Put the pasta into the boiling water and cook until al dente.

8.  Add the chopped tomato and tomato puree to the meat and fennel mixture.

9.  Simmer for 8-10mins until the tomato has broken down.

10.  Stir in the parmesan.

11. Drain the cooked pasta and add to the sauce, making sure it's combined and all the pasta is totally covered with sauce.

12.  Sprinkle some more parmesan on when served.
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Broad bean and ham hock risotto

16/8/2012

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My husband sends me a text on the 16th of every month at 3pm saying 'happy anniversary'. He's much better than me - in fact this month he was double sneaky and got in well before me by sending it in the morning because he was in a meeting in the afternoon.

Even better, he celebrated in the evening by cooking me a risotto. I've heard a lot of people say that risotto is hard to get right but he gets it bang on - unctuous without being gloopy and packed full of flavours. This was a new variation and so delicious I successfully got to eat the rest of his (after I'd finished mine) by shooting his dish longing looks.

Ingredients:

750ml vegetable stock
70g butter
Half an onion finely chopped
4 rashers of pancetta
Thyme to taste
200g risotto rice
A small glass of marsala
200g frozen broad beans
100g feta, cubed
100g coooked ham hock [Sainsburys]
Generous sprinkle of shaved parmesan

How to make it:

1.  Heat the stock in a saucepan.

2.  In a seperate saucepan heat a knob of the butter, then add the onion and thyme and fry for about 8 minutes until the onion is soft but not coloured.

3.  Add the rice and turn up the heat so that it almost fries. After a minute the rice will look almost translucent. Add the marsala and keep stirring.

4. Now add a ladle of hot stock and a pinch of salt. Turn down the heat to a fairly high simmer.

5.  Keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring constantly and allowing each to be completely absorbed before adding the next.

6.  Add the broad beans to the stock when there are still about 4 ladles left. Add with the stock to the rice.

7. Add the ham hock and stir through until the rice is soft but still has a slight bite. Season if needed.

8.  At the last minute, lightly stir through the cubed feta and the rest of the butter.

9.  When served, top with some rashers of crispy pancetta (see Bruschetta recipe) and the shaved parmesan.


Recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver
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