It is Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Martedi Grasso, the day of abundance and packing everything in that you are going to give up during lent. I am not Catholic, but I have decided to give up wheat for lent, or at least for a month, I’m not sure I’ll be able to do it for a full 40 days. It is going to be a hard road, I live in the breadbasket of Italy and I love pasta, love it. I thought that I would share my last pasta post for a while, while we all tighten our belts a bit for this pasta-free period before Easter.

We had some of this fancy pasta leftover from my last post, plus an excess of cooked fish, which couldn’t be thrown away. I made a delicious and light dish out of it, the lemon scent from the pasta really popped out.

Fancy Pasta with Grated Fennel, Lemon and Orata

• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and left whole
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 medium fennel bulb, with fronds
• the zest of 1 lemon
• 1 cup of cooked white fish, or 1 filet fresh white fish
• 1/2 pound lemon scented pasta
• salt for pasta water

Fill a large pot with water for the pasta. Bring to a boil over high heat.

Cut the fronds away from the fennel bulb, rinse well with cold water and set aside. Clean away any rough pieces of the fennel and cut into quarters. Grate the fennel on a box grater. Heat oil in a wide saucepan over medium-high heat and add one clove of garlic. When garlic starts to sizzle add the fennel, stir to absorb the oil and then add the white wine.

Once the water starts to boil for the pasta add a small handful of salt to the water and bring to a rolling boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente.

At this point add the lemon zest and the fish.

When the pasta is perfectly al dente, reserve a cup of the pasta water in case the pasta dries out when tossing it. Without shaking all of the water out of the colander pour the pasta into the pan and toss it over the flame with the sauce. This allows for the pasta to cook a little longer in the sauce and to absorb the flavor. Remove the pan from the flame and toss the fennel fronds in the pasta. Serve immediately.

Three Years Ago: Herb Egg Salad

Four Years Ago: Farfalle with Portobello Mushrooms

~ by italicious on February 12, 2013.

Posted in fennel, fennel fronds, lemons, orata, pasta, primi
Tags: fennel, fennel fronds, fish, lemon zest, orata, pasta, seafood