• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Living The Gourmet
  • Subscribe
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Wines
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • About
    • Recipes
    • Wines
    • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Fennel & Spaghetti with Toasted Almonds

    Jan 9, 2021 · 13 Comments

    Jump to Recipe

    Today’s recipe features a white wine sauce prepared with slivered almonds and caramelized fennel set over pasta, creating a satisfying yet pleasantly light dinner.

    Why You’ll Love Today’s Fennel and Almond Pasta

    1) One Pan, One Meal. Today’s pasta is a classic ‘one pan, one meal’ recipe that’s pleasantly light, and yet satisfying enough to stand on its own without the need for copious sides or accompaniments. This makes it perfect for busy weeknights.

    2) Ripe for Experimentation. Today’s recipe is a great ‘starter sauce,’ to which you can add things like anchovies or sardines, or even fried or grilled squid to create a light garlic and oil fish sauce.

    Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

    1) Fresh Fennel. Sometimes labeled as ‘whole fennel,’ fresh fennel features a crisp licorice flavor that ranges from ‘subtle’ to ‘overwhelming’ when consumed uncooked, and a wonderfully crunchy texture. Contrary to popular belief, fennel is ‘not’ a root vegetable despite being a part of the carrot family. That said, fennel is amazingly versatile, being used for braising, sautéing, and grilling recipes ranging from steaks and roasts to various seafood recipes and poultry. In addition, fennel is also commonly used to provide flavor bases for vegetarian soups and stews. Not only that, but every part of the fennel is usable in some capacity. The leaves can be chopped up and used as flavoring for salads, soups, sauces, and marinades, while the bulbs are edible raw and the stalks (while tough and fibrous raw) can be cooked down in soups and stews, even the fonds serve a purpose, since these are often used as garnish. In short, this is one ingredient that’s definitely worth learning how to use.

    2) The Almonds. There are a couple of things to note about cooking with almonds. They contain quite a bit of ‘crunch,’ and this ‘crunch’ does ‘not’ go away during cooking. Second, when cooking with almonds there is no escaping their sweet and buttery flavor, and this is why they are prized for baked recipes, especially particularly sweet recipes featuring things like honey and coconut. However, this also makes them ideal for certain savory recipes, particularly those that feature a medley of other prominent ‘sweet’ flavors, such as fruit or licorice flavors – and of course today’s fennel.

    Substitutes: Pine nuts are the ideal substitute for almonds in today’s recipe – do this at a 1-to-1 ratio.

    More Italian Favorites from Living the Gourmet

    1) Ravioli. My favorite twist on a beloved classic, these homemade ravioli are blissfully simple to prepare, but the real draw here is the delicious mix of asiago, ricotta, mozzarella, and romano, coupled with a fresh red sauce, plenty of garlic, and fresh spinach.

    2) Sweet Mediterranean Lasagna. This lasagna is a bit more colorful by design as compared to the traditional layers of noodles, red sauce, and mozzarella, featuring fresh baby spinach, a touch of sweetness from raisins and cinnamon, and ‘Mediterranean’ flavors such as capers, oregano, and lots of fresh garlic.

    3) Meatballs with Rasins and Pignoli Nuts. My absolute favorite meatball recipe of all time. Moist, flavorful, and versatile, well able to accompany pasta or to prepare a meatball sandwich, or even to eat on their own.

    Print
    clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

    Fennel & Spaghetti with Toasted Almonds


    ★ 5 Stars ☆ ★ 4 Stars ☆ ★ 3 Stars ☆ ★ 2 Stars ☆ ★ 1 Star ☆

    No reviews

    • Author: Living the Gourmet
    • Total Time: 30 minutes
    • Yield: 4 1x
    Print Recipe
    Pin Recipe

    Ingredients

    Units Scale
    • 1 heat of fresh fennel - thinly sliced
    • 5 - 6 - crushed cloves of garlic
    • 3/4 cup of sliced almonds - toasted
    • 1 tbs. butter
    • 2 tbs. olive oil
    • 4 - 5 slices of bacon - sliced thin
    • 4 - 5 slices of thinly sliced lemon
    • 1 tsp. salt
    • 1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
    • fresh grated nutmeg
    • Fresh Romano cheese or Parmesan cheese - grated
    • 1 lb. of your favorite pasta

    Instructions

    1. Cook the thinly sliced bacon until nice and crisp and place on a plate prepared with a paper towel.
    2. Heat a large cast iron frying pan with the butter and olive oil.
    3. Add the garlic, sliced onion and thinly sliced fennel to the pan and allow to get a beautiful golden color and fragrant.
    4. Add the slices of fresh lemon and continue to sauté.
    5. Heat a small cast iron frying pan and place the sliced almonds in the dry pan to get a nice golden color. Remove from the heat when this is achieved.
    6. Season with the salt, black pepper and grated nutmeg.
    7. Prepare the pasta as directed in generously salted water.
    8. Lift the cooked pasta into the pan with the fennel and toss with the crisp bacon and toasted almonds.
    9. Grate fresh Parmesan cheese or Romano cheese and toss in the toasted almonds, toss and serve.
    • Prep Time: 10 minutes
    • Cook Time: 20 minutes

    Nutrition

    • Serving Size: 1

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @LTGfood on Instagram and hashtag it #LTGfood

    Recipe Card powered byTasty Recipes

    0

    Pasta & Noodles

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. angiesrecipes says

      January 10, 2021 at 3:31 am

      Simple yet very tasty!

      Reply
    2. DAVID J MYERS says

      January 10, 2021 at 5:59 pm

      Catherine, Really different but I just don't care for fennel. Yesterday we gave Cacio E Pepe a try. It was very nice but we need to figure out how to keep it warmer for serving. Stay Safe and Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

      Reply
    3. Lisa says

      January 11, 2021 at 8:23 pm

      We eat a lot of fennel in Italy, so I really like this recipe. Pairing it with spaghetti and toasted almonds is a classic winner!

      Reply
    4. angela says

      January 12, 2021 at 8:04 am

      Fennel & Spaghetti with Toasted Almonds recipe so delicious. I can’t wait to follow this recipe myself.

      Reply
    5. Norafiqin says

      January 12, 2021 at 9:14 am

      Ooh I love that the recipe is so light. I always make mine with heavy sauces and I feel like I weigh a ton after. Gotta try this out!

      Reply
    6. Cristina Petrini says

      January 12, 2021 at 9:16 am

      I make a similar pasta dish with cubes of cooked ham, lemon zest and very little cream and the addition of toasted almonds is the icing on the cake!

      Reply
    7. Melissa M Sanchez says

      January 12, 2021 at 2:07 pm

      What a great way to add some vegetables to pasta. I never know how to incorporate fennel into my cooking. I will try .

      Reply
    8. Melissa Dixon says

      January 12, 2021 at 2:31 pm

      This looks really good. I could go for some spaghetti right now. I bet my whole family would love it.

      Reply
    9. Yeah Lifestyle says

      January 12, 2021 at 7:35 pm

      I love tasty and simple dish such as this for lunch or a light dinner. Looks absolutely tasty

      Reply
    10. Marysa says

      January 12, 2021 at 9:58 pm

      Such an interesting recipe! I have never paired fennel with pasta, but it sounds like a great combination of flavors.

      Reply
    11. Everything Enchanting says

      January 15, 2021 at 12:25 am

      I use fennel seeds in most of my (Indian) recipes. But have never tried fresh fennels , that too in pasta! I'll surely give this a recipe a try, looks delicious ❤️

      Reply
    12. Marie-France says

      January 17, 2021 at 1:23 am

      Fancy, simple and delicious! Bravo, j'adore 🙂

      Reply
    13. beckandbulow says

      January 28, 2021 at 9:44 am

      Excellent recipe

      beckandbulow

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe rating ★ 5 Stars ☆ ★ 4 Stars ☆ ★ 3 Stars ☆ ★ 2 Stars ☆ ★ 1 Star ☆

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Welcome to Living the Gourmet! Our goal is to bring you recipes and inspirations for a gourmet life.

    Meet the family →

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Our Story
    • Privacy Policy & Disclaimer
    • As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Contact

    • Media Kit

    Social

    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    Living The Gourmet
    Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

    Strictly Necessary Cookies

    Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

    If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.