Fennel Seafood Linguine

FENNEL & SEAFOOD LINGUINE

Steps:

• Mix any brown crabmeat with the crème fraîche and cayenne pepper, and set aside. Pull away any tough outer leaves from the fennel bulb (you can keep these to use for stock). Trim the base, and remove the stem (again, reserve these for making stock, if you like). Finely chop the fronds and set aside. Slice the bulb in half along the core, then lay the pieces, cut-side down, on a chopping board. Cut each half into thick slices, then rotate by 90 degrees and chop.
• Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan over a medium heat, add the fennel, shallot, chilli, garlic and a good pinch of sea salt and cook for 8-10 mins, or until the fennel and shallot are have softened. Add the tomatoes and cook for a few minutes more until they start to break down. Tip in the vermouth or white wine, and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook until the liquid has reduced by about half, then remove from the heat.
• Meanwhile, cook the linguine in a large pan of boiling salted water, following pack instructions, until just al dente. Reheat the fennel sauce over a medium heat and transfer the pasta directly from its water to the sauce using tongs. Add a good ladleful of the pasta cooking water to loosen the mix, then spoon in the white crabmeat. Stir everything together well to agitate the mixture and emulsify the sauce. Add the crab and crème fraîche mixture, and stir for a few minutes until the sauce is thick and glossy. Stir in the chopped herbs and taste for seasoning - the sauce should be thick, silky and not too runny, so continue to cook until it's the right thickness, if needed. Season with a little lemon juice, then divide between warmed bowls.

FISH WITH FENNEL

Steps:

• Cut lime in half; cut four slices from one half for garnish. Finely grate enough peel from remaining half to measure 3/4 teaspoon; squeeze juice from lime half. Set aside., In a dry small skillet over medium heat, toast fennel seeds until aromatic, about 1-2 minutes. Cool. Crush seeds in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle., In a large saucepan, bring 1 in. of water to a boil. Add sliced fennel and salt; cover and boil for 6-10 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and pat dry., In a large nonstick skillet, saute fennel in 2 teaspoons oil for 3 minutes or until fennel is lightly browned. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Remove from the pan and set aside. , In the same skillet over medium-high heat, cook fillets in remaining oil for 3-4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork. , Drizzle with lime juice; sprinkle with lime peel and crushed fennel seeds. Serve with sauteed fennel. Garnish with fennel fronds and lime slices.,

HEALTHY SEAFOOD SPAGHETTI

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan and cook the fennel and onion for 10 mins, stirring occasionally until softened. Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the spaghetti for 10 mins until al dente.
• When the fennel and onion mixture has softened, stir in the chilli flakes, garlic, lemon zest and juice. Add the tomato purée and cook briefly, stirring all the time.
• Drain the pasta, reserving a mugful (around 250ml) of the cooking water. Stir the seafood into the tomato sauce and warm through. Toss the spaghetti into the sauce with the parsley and just enough of the reserved cooking water to loosen. Season and serve.

FENNEL & GARLIC SHRIMP

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large (12-inch) saute pan over medium heat. Add the fennel and saute for 5 minutes, until tender but not browned. Turn the heat to medium-low, add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook at a very low sizzle for 2 to 3 minutes, until the garlic just begins to color.
• Pat the shrimp dry with paper towels, add them to the pan, and toss together with the fennel and olive oil. Spread the shrimp in one layer and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes on one side. Turn the shrimp and cook for 2 minutes on the other side, until they¿re pink and just cooked through.
• Off the heat, sprinkle with the parsley, 1 tablespoon of chopped fennel fronds, the Pernod (if using), the fleur de sel, and black pepper and serve it with bread to soak up all the pan juices.

LINGUINE WITH CLAMS AND FENNEL

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid.
• Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons oil in another large heavy pot over medium heat. Add chopped fennel and garlic; cook, stirring often, until softened but not browned, 2-3 minutes. Add wine, then clams. Increase heat to high. Cover and cook until clams open, 4-7 minutes, depending on size of clams. As clams open, use tongs to transfer them to a large bowl (discard any that do not open).
• Add 1/2 cup reserved pasta cooking liquid to clam juices in pot; bring to a boil. Add pasta to pot. Cook over high heat, tossing constantly, until pasta is al dente and has soaked up some of the sauce, 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add clams with any juices from bowl and 2 tablespoons fennel fronds; toss to combine, adding more pasta liquid by tablespoonfuls if dry.
• Divide among bowls. Drizzle with oil; garnish with fennel fronds and fennel pollen.

SHRIMP AND FENNEL WITH PASTA SHELLS

Steps:

• In a large pot bring water to a boil. If you have them handy, toss in a few shrimp shells to flavor the water. Be sure to remove them before putting in the pasta.
• Cook pasta according to manufacturer's directions.
• Remove & drain cooked pasta from water with slotted spoon, reserving about 2 cups of liquid.
• Bring another pot of water to boil to blanch the fennel.
• While the water is heating, cut the greens off the fennel, remove the tough outer layer and quarter the bulbs. Keep the greens.
• Blanche fennel for 30-seconds to 1 minute in boiling water.
• Finely chop the leafy greens for use as a garnish.
• Slice blanched fennel bulb to pieces about the same size as the shrimp.
• In a large sauté pan heat olive oil over med-high heat.
• Slice/dice/crush garlic & sauté in hot oil (the finer the garlic, the stronger the flavor. For very mild flavor, slice the garlic thick & remove before adding any other ingredients).
• Add shrimp and some pepper flakes to pan. Cook shrimp in oil, about 1 minute each side.
• Remove shrimp from pan.
• Add fennel pieces to pan, and sauté for 1-2 minutes with pepper flakes to taste.
• Reduce heat to med and add pasta to pan, along with 1 1/2 cup of pasta water. The pasta water will form a creamy sauce.
• Stir while cooking about 2 minutes. If sauce cooks down too quickly or is not enough, add more pasta water.
• Add salt and pepper flakes to taste.
• Add shrimp back & stir to evenly coat with sauce.
• Just before serving toss in about 2 tablespoons of chopped fennel greens and parmesan cheese. Make any final salt/pepper adjustments.
• Serve garnished with additional fennel greens.