Tomato and fennel pasta with chili and saffron

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 onions
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 red chili pepper(s)
• 1 fennel bulb(s)
• 100 g cherry tomatoes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 0.1 g saffron threads
• 250 ml vegetable stock
• 400 g orecchiette
• some salt and pepper, colored or black, from the mill
• e.g. lemon juice

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

Peel the onions and garlic cloves and dice finely. Clean the chili pepper, cut it lengthwise, remove the seeds, rinse it, and also dice it finely or cut it into thin rings. If you like it spicier, you can either deseed it or only deseed it partially. Rinse the fennel, trim the green parts, and chop it. Halve the fennel, remove the stalk, and cut the fennel into strips. Wash, trim, and halve the cherry tomatoes. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the prepared ingredients, except for the chopped fennel greens, for about 5 minutes. Then add the saffron threads, pour in the vegetable stock, and let it steep for about 8 minutes. Cook the orecchiette in plenty of boiling, lightly salted water until al dente. Drain and toss with the vegetables. Season the dish with a little salt, a few grinds of mixed or black pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice, if desired. Sprinkle with the chopped fennel leaves and serve. Serve with fresh baguette and freshly shaved or grated Parmesan, or another Italian hard cheese, or feta.