Caramelised Fennel, Chicken & Hazelnut Wholegrain Pasta
Such a week family supper winner! I made double and it made great leftovers for lunch during the week, I just simply dressed the pasta with leaves and squeeze of lemon juice – YUM!
In this recipe fennel are sliced and slowly cooked with fennel seeds, loads extra-virgin olive oil and garlic, pure bliss. I added minced chicken in this recipe but you can easily leave it out to make the recipe vegan/vegetarian.
How to increase your daily fibre:
Simply swapping your favourite pasta with a wholegrain version doubles up the fibre content of the dish.
Upping your daily fibre is beneficial for your gut health. How? The gut bacteria in the colon convert dietary fibres into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) which are beneficial to our health. SCFA’s in return stimulates the growth of more healthy bacteria, they improve our immune system (70% of our immune system is in our gut!) and they can reduce inflammation.
Ways to cook fennel
- fennel loves to be slowly cooked or braised in a liquid of either cream, stock or olive oil
- roasted with lots of olive oil and seasoned well
- sliced thinly and added to salads for a crunch
Fennel loves:
- fennel seeds
- lemon / orange
- cream / creme fraiche
- blue cheese / parmesan
- sun-dried tomatoes / olives
- dill
More fennel recipes:
- Salad of fennel with roasted grapes, pistachios and mint – STUNNER!
- Soup of cauliflower, fennel & pear soup with a crunchy topping
- Tart – caramelised fennel, chard & goats cheese quicheÂ
- Bake – fennel, leek & butterbean gratinÂ
Caramelised Fennel & Hazelnut Wholegrain Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 large fennel bulbs top & tailed, halved, each half - finely sliced
- 1 red onion finely sliced
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 500 g pasture-reared chicken mince
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- pinch chilli flakes (opt)
- 1/2 cup blanched hazelnuts
- 150 ml a glass white wine
- 100 ml veggie or chicken stock - warmed
- 4 tbsp full fat yogurt of choice or cream creme fraiche also great
- 400 g wholegrain short pasta of choice
- small handful dill/tarragon/parsley leaves finely chopped
- 1 lemon, zest and juice to taste
- pecorino/parmesan to serve
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c and toast the hazelnuts until golden and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Roughly chop and set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the fennel seeds and let them toast for 1 minute, add the sliced fennel & onions, stir well to coat with the oil. Add 1 tsp salt and cook the onions & fennel, covered on a medium heat until soft - about 15 minutes. In the end you want everything to end up looking like a delicious brown mass.
- Once soft, add the chicken mince, increase the heat and sauté the chicken to slightly brown, stirring frequently adding a little oil if the mixture seems to dry, about 6 minutes. (TIP: get some water on the boil for the pasta, salt the water generously)
- When golden, add 1 tsp salt, fresh pepper, the chilli flakes and minced garlic, cook for 4 minutes until fragrant.
- To the mince add the white wine and stock and gently simmer for 10 minutes until everything is soft and smell delicious!
- While the sauce is cooking, add the pasta to the boiling salted water and cook until the pasta is perfectly al dente, that is soft but still with a bite to it - drain well, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water.
- Add the pasta water to the sauce, bring to a simmer to let the pasta water incorporate well into the sauce.
- Add the yogurt tot the sauce and stir through, taste and season. Add half a lemons zest and a small squeeze juice to taste.
- Add the pasta tot the sauce, tossing the pasta with the wonderful sauce. Sprinkle over the herbs and hazelnuts and serve with parmesan over or alongside the pasta. Enjoy!
