The credit for this recipe goes entirely to my friend, Samantha, even though she never made it, nor did she give me the recipe.
A little while back Samantha ate at a restaurant near her, and she was so delighted by the dish she ordered, that she wrote about it and its flavors in depth.
The dish was pappardelle with fennel, peas, and a lemon cream sauce, which was a combination I never would have considered. I eat fennel so many ways, from roasted fennel to a few different types of fennel soups, to so many different types of fennel salads; I put it in risotto, and I’ve used it in stir fry… but fennel and pasta was something I never put together, not to mention the idea of pairing it with leek and cream.
Samantha mentioned that the dish was sweet, despite being a lemon cream sauce, so I did a little thinking and realized that caramelizing leek would make it sweet, and as long as I didn’t overdo the lemon in the sauce the sauce would still be overall sweet.
I didn’t have peas at home and decided that I’d use edamame instead for the dish.
Now I have no idea if this tastes remotely like the dish Samantha had at that restaurant, but it’s a brand new combination that I never would have tried without her, and it was definitely delicious and something I’d make again.
Ingredients
For the pasta:
- 1 package pasta of choice (gluten or gluten free)
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the sauce:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter or more olive oil if keeping vegan
- 1 leek, both white and green parts, thinly sliced, about 3 cups
- 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced, about 2–3 cups
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 cup shelled defrosted edamame
- 1 cup cream (or a dairy-free alternative)
- 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan (optional; use a vegan alternative if desired)
- Salt and black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste
Instructions
- Prepare the pasta with salt according to cooking instructions on the package until al dente. If using rice noodles, you may only need to soak them in boiling water, but other pasta would need boiling.
- Thinly slice the fennel and leek.
- Heat up olive oil and butter on a medium heat.
- Saute the leek and fennel until softened and starting to caramelize.
- Mince the garlic, add it to the pot, cooking for one more minute.
- Add the broth to the pot and let simmer for a few minutes.
- Add the edamame to the broth and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the cream, lemon zest, and lemon juice and simmer for a few minutes.
- Add the pasta to the pan, mixing it in to cover it in sauce.
- If using parmesan, add now.
- Season with salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste.
- Garnish with fennel fronds and extra Parmesan if desired.
- Enjoy!
Have you ever had this type of pasta dish? Does this look like a recipe you’d make? How often do you recreate dishes based on some random description you heard from a friend, or am I the weirdo who does that?
