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Roasted Fennel Pasta – Spaghetti pasta tossed with deliciously sweet roasted fennel, garlic, fresh red chilli and lemon zest. A simple and elegant dish that’s so easy to make. Serve with a delicious glass of chilled white wine.
When fennel is roasted it loses its strong aniseed flavour and becomes beautifully sweet, soft and caramelised. It’s what makes this pasta dish so simple yet so delicious.
To cut through the sweetness we’ve added lemon zest, garlic and chilli which just adds so much delicious flavour and freshness.
Roasting the fennel is the most time-consuming part of this recipe but there’s not much active time involved so it’s really easy. You can also roast the fennel the day before to speed things up.
It’s a great mid-week meal that’s perfect served with a chilled glass of vino, enjoy!
See the recipe below including notes on ingredients, step by step photos, tips, variations and a video tutorial. For the full printable recipe scroll to the bottom or click the recipe link below
Ingredients
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Pin ItIngredient notes and substitutions
- Spaghetti – this is our pasta of choice but you can choose another pasta shape (long or short).
- Fennel bulbs – when looking for fennel choose small to medium-sized as they are sweeter and have more flavour. Make sure they look fresh and not too brown or bruised.
- Garlic – as always we only use fresh garlic in our recipes (no powder).
- Chilli – we use half to one whole red chilli depending on the heat (all chillies differ). You can add more or less to taste.
- White wine – this adds another depth of flavour but you can leave it out if you prefer. Go for an Italian white that you will drink with the pasta e.g Pinot Grigio, Vermentino or Pecorino.
- Lemon zest – I recommend using unwaxed lemons as we’re using the zest.
Step by step photos and instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 200C (400F).
Cut the tops and bottoms off the fennel reserving the fronds for garnish. Cut the fennel in slices then into strips and place in a large roasting tin (photos 1 and 2).
Drizzle the fennel with olive oil and season with a sprinkling of salt. Cover with foil and roast for 40 minutes then uncover for another 10 minutes, remove from the oven and set aside (photos 3-5).
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season well. Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente.
Finely chop the garlic and chilli and add it to a large frying pan with 3 tablespoons of olive oil (photo 6).
Saute the garlic and chilli gently for about 1 minute then add the fennel. Stir to coat it in the oil. Add the wine and let it reduce by half (photo 7).
Add the cooked pasta and toss it in the fennel. Add 1-2 tablespoons or reserved pasta water and stir to combine. Turn off the heat and add the lemon zest, toss to coat the pasta then serve in bowls and garnish with leftover fennel fronds (photo 8).
Recipe tips and FAQs
- Quality ingredients – make sure to use good quality ingredients for the best flavour. Good quality pasta, fresh fennel bulbs (not brown or bruised) and organic unwaxed lemons.
- Roasting tray – use a large roasting tray so the fennel isn’t crammed on top of each other.
- Variations to try – why not try roasting cherry tomatoes with the fennel or adding sauteed shrimp (prawns). Italian sausage would also be a nice addition.
roasting the fennel is the most time-consuming part (although it’s not active time) so you can do this up to 1 day in advance.
I don’t recommend freezing the finished dish but you can freeze roasted fennel to speed up the process. Defrost completely before reheating.
More recipes with fennel to try
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Step By Step Photos Above
Most of our recipes come with step by step photos, helpful tips and tricks to make it perfectly first time and even video!
Roasted Fennel Pasta with Lemon and Chilli
Ingredients
- 14 oz spaghetti, (400g)
- 3 medium fennel bulbs
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½-1 fresh red chilli
- ¼ cup white wine, (60ml)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil plus extra for roasting
- Salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200C (400F).
- Cut the tops and bottoms off the fennel reserving the fronds for garnish. Cut the fennel in slices then into strips and place in a large roasting tin.
- Drizzle the fennel with olive oil and season with a sprinkling of salt. Cover with foil and roast for 40 minutes then uncover for another 10 minutes, remove from the oven and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season well. Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente.
- Finely chop the garlic and chilli and add it to a large frying pan with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Saute the garlic and chilli gently for about 1 minute then add the fennel. Stir to coat it in the oil.
- Add the wine and let it reduce by half. Add the cooked pasta and toss it in the fennel. Add 1-2 tablespoons or reserved pasta water and toss.
- Turn off the heat and add the lemon zest, toss to coat the pasta then serve in bowls and garnish with leftover fennel fronds.
Video
Notes
- Quality ingredients – make sure to use good quality ingredients for the best flavour. Good quality pasta, fresh fennel bulbs (not brown or bruised) and organic unwaxed lemons.
- Roasting tray – use a large roasting tray so the fennel isn’t crammed on top of each other.
- Variations to try – why not try roasting cherry tomatoes with the fennel or adding sauteed shrimp (prawns). Italian sausage would also be a nice addition.
- Storage and freezing – the pasta is best eaten straight away. I don’t recommend freezing the finished dish but you can freeze roasted fennel to speed up the process.
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
So simple yet so delicious (I bet). Thanks for the recipe!