Pasta with fennel and anchovies

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 3 large fennel bulbs
• 90 ml olive oil
• Salt
• 6 anchovy fillets in oil
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• ½ tsp chili flakes
• 30 g mint leaves, plus some for decoration
• 1 orange(s)
• 1 lemon(s)
• 500 g pasta, preferably rigatoni (20% less for gluten-free pasta)
• 80 g Pecorino Romano, finely grated or hard cheese of your choice

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 25 minutes; Total time approx. 45 minutes

meatless

Remove the outer layers of the fennel, then halve or quarter it and then cut it into wedges or strips of about 0.5 cm. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy pot over high heat. Add the fennel segments, season with salt, and fry for 6 to 8 minutes. If there are any wedges, turn them over and fry for the same amount of time on the other side. The vegetables should turn a golden brown overall. Then reduce the heat to low. Add the anchovies, garlic, chili flakes, and mint to the pot and fry everything for another 2 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, grate some orange and lemon zest over it, and stir. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of salted water until al dente. Drain and reserve 250 to 350 ml of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the vegetables with the pecorino and a good 250 ml of the cooking water and stir everything over medium heat for another 2 minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken. Divide the pasta between plates, garnish with the mint, and serve. Enjoy! This recipe is also great for using up leftover vegetables. The fennel can be swapped out in many different ways. You can replace the chili flakes with fresh, finely chopped chili peppers. If you don’t like garlic, swap it for shallots or onions and sauté them for a bit longer. At the very end, if you like, you can replace the pasta with rice.