So much flavour can be drawn from basic everyday ingredients when cooked cleverly.
This Roasted Tomato and Fennel Pasta recipe was created by roasting fresh tomatoes, then crushing their sticky umami juices into a frying pan of sauteed garlic and roasted fennel seeds. What you get is a rich depth of flavour in the sauce with half the cooking time of other tinned-tomato versions.
How to cook pasta with flavour
Another trick to add layers of flavour is to cook the pasta in vegetable stock. It’s not only beneficial to the taste of the pasta but also when using the cooking water to loosen the sauce. Drizzling with a very good tasting olive oil will elevate it to a genuine Italian level of quality.
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Roasted Tomato and Fennel Pasta
Delicious Roasted Tomato and Fennel Pasta recipe with roasted tomatoes crushed with their sticky umami juices into a frying pan of sauteed garlic and roasted fennel seeds.
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Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 160 g pasta
- 4 tomatoes
- Olive oil
- Salt
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 1 heaped Tbsp fennel seeds
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 Tbsp lemon rind
- Good quality tasting olive oil for drizzling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C / 200°C fan-Forced. Cut each tomato into 4 pieces, rub in olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 20 minutes or until flesh soft and tomatoes collapsed.
- Heat a small dry frying pan and gently roast fennel seeds. Keep tossing to avoid them burning. When ready remove 1 tsp of the seeds for garnish and set aside. Grind the remaining seeds with a mortar and pestle.
- Boil pasta in vegetable stock according to packet instruction time.
- Heat a pan with olive oil, gently fry garlic and chilli flakes, add roasted tomatoes and ground fennel along with a ladle of the pasta cooking water. Crush the tomatoes into the sauce.
- Drain pasta and add to the pan with tomato sauce. Season with salt and add a little more cooking water to loosen if needed. Combine well.
- Remove from heat, stir through the lemon rind and drizzle the entire pasta with olive oil. Separate into bowls and sprinkle with reserved whole fennel seeds.
