Tagliatelle
with Fennel and Lamb Ragu
We had a nice surprise visit down at the Fresh Farm from the guys at Del Verde pasta last week. They came all the way over from Italy to say hello and as you can imagine they’re pretty feisty when it comes to talking pasta. All of their pasta is made using bronze dies (i.e. it’s squeezed through a bronze pasta shaper) rather than Teflon. It’s a much longer process than cheaper producers use, but it means the sauce sticks to the pasta properly when you mix it. Our tip: Don’t even get them started on the subject of adding olive oil to your boiling water - touchy subject!
Boxes and ingredients are packed in facilities that handles Peanut, Nuts, Sesame, Fish, Crustaceans, Milk, Egg, Mustard, Celery, Soya, Gluten and Sulphites. Due to the war in Ukraine, it has been necessary to substitute sunflower oil with rapeseed oil in some products without a label change. The FSA have advised that allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are rare.
Ingredients
2
Garlic Clove
2
Black Olives
1
Rosemary
1
Fennel
200
Lamb Mince
1
Chopped Tomatoes
220
Wheat Tagliatelle
(Contains Cereals containing gluten)
2
Parmesan Cheese
(Contains Milk)
Nutritional information
Utensils
Instructions
Peel and very finely dice the garlic. Finely chop the black olives. Pick the leaves from the rosemary and very finely chop them.
Pick the delicate leaves (technically they’re called fronds!) from the fennel. Chop the root from the base and discard. Very, very thinly slice the fennel widthways. Tip: Ideally use a mandolin if you have one as you want it to be almost translucently thin.
Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan on medium heat and add the garlic and rosemary. Cook until the garlic just starts to change colour then add the fennel with a pinch of salt. Cook for around 6 mins until the fennel is soft. Tip: Don’t brown off the fennel - turn down the heat and add 1 tbsp of water if it’s too hot.
Add the lamb to the pan and break it up using a wooden spoon. Season with ¼ tsp of salt and a few good grinds of black pepper. Add the black olives. Boil a pot of water with ¼ tsp of salt for our pasta.
Once the lamb has lost its raw colour add the tinned tomatoes. Refill the can by ⅕, swill it around and add to the sauce. Tip: You can add ¼ tsp of sugar at this point to lift the flavour even more. Turn the heat to low and bubble away gently for as long as your hunger allows, preferably at least 10 mins.
When the sauce is 6 mins from ready add your pasta to the boiling water. Add ¼ tsp of salt and when it’s rapidly boiling add the pasta. Cook according to the pack instructions until ‘al dente’. Tip: ‘Al dente’ simply means it’s cooked but still has a bit of firmness in the middle.
Once the pasta is cooked drain it and pour into the sauce. Toss everything together with the grated parmesan and you’re done!
For an extra nice bit of presentation very finely chop those fennel fronds and scatter them on top.
