Spaghetti with Fennel Tomato Sauce and Buffalo Mozzarella

spaghetti

1. Put the flour with a pinch of salt in a bowl, add the eggs and then work it into an elastic dough with your hands. When kneading, you can tell very quickly whether the dough is ideal or whether it is possibly too dry or too moist. Then correct with either water or flour.
2. Then wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature. Then roll out thinly with the pasta machine and cut into spaghetti with the spaghetti attachment, then cook this in sufficiently salted water until al dente.

Fennel Tomato Sauce

1. Clean the fennel, cut in half and cut out the stalk. Remove the fennel greens, chop finely and set aside. Now cut the fennel into large pieces. Peel off the shallots and garlic and also roughly cut. Now chop the fennel together with the shallots and the garlic with an electric chopper (moulinette).
2. Now heat some olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the fennel with the shallots and the garlic – about 5 minutes. Then pour the sugar over it and continue to cook until the sugar has melted. Then deglaze with the chunky tomatoes and bring to the boil once.
3. Then turn the stove to the lowest setting and season with salt, pepper and Espelette pepper and let everything simmer for at least 2 hours with the lid closed.

finish

1. Strain the spaghetti, collecting about 50 ml of pasta water. Add the pasta water to the sauce, bring to the boil again and then add the baslamico and season to taste again. Drain the mozzarella well and tear it apart with your fingers.
2. Place the spaghetti on a pasta plate, pour the sauce over it, spread the torn mozzarella over it, add a few drops of olive oil to the mozzarella and decorate with the fennel greens.