Rich Fennel Spaghetti — a plant-based Italian recipe by BOSH!
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Rich Fennel Spaghetti

This one's a proper weeknight winner and honestly one of our favourite pasta dishes we've made in a long time. There's something about fennel that just transforms when it cooks down low and slow, going from sharp and aniseedy to sweet and silky, and paired with sun dried tomatoes it's absolutely incredible. The rich, glossy sauce clings to every strand of spaghetti and the whole thing feels like proper Italian cooking without being complicated. We keep coming back to this one because it looks and tastes like you've been in the kitchen for hours. Make it tonight, you won't regret it.

Cook: 30 min
Serves 4

Before You Start

  • Potato masher
  • Large pan with lid

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp sun-dried tomato oil - from the jar
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 fennel bulbs
  • 1 red onion
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 4 sun-dried tomatoes
  • 500g cherry tomatoes
  • 1 sprig of basil - leaves only
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • 400g spaghetti
  • side salad
  • Nutritional yeast or almond parmesan

Method

1

First, prep the veg

  • Peel and grate the garlic
  • Peel and finely dice the red onion
  • Trim and finely slice the fennel
  • Finely slice the sun dried tomatoes
2

Start cooking

  • Warm the sun-dried tomato oil in a pan over a medium heat
  • Add the red onions and a pinch of salt and stir for 3-4 minutes
  • Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds
  • Add the fennel and sun dried tomatoes and stir for 3-4 minutes
  • Transfer the contents of the pan to a bowl and set to one side
3

In the same pan, prepare the tomatoes

  • Add a splash more oil to the pan
  • Add the cherry tomatoes to the pan along with a pinch of salt and pepper, stir, turn the heat down, put the lid on and shake the pan to prevent catching every minute for 5 minutes
  • Take the lid off the pan and gently crush the tomatoes with a potato masher to release the juice
  • Add the basil leaves to the pan and fold into the tomatoes and turn the heat right down
4

Now, prepare the pasta

  • Cook the pasta according to pack instructions and save 100ml pasta water
5

Combine the veg, add the pasta to the sauce and serve

  • Add the bowl of cooked fennel to the pan and fold into the tomatoes
  • Add the pasta water to the pan, turn up the heat and simmer for 1 minute
  • Turn the heat down, add the spaghetti to the pan and fold into the sauce
  • Serve the Rich Fennel Spaghetti with a side salad and sprinkle of nutritional yeast

Tips & Variations

  • Use the good oil: Don't drain that sun dried tomato oil away, it's liquid gold. We always use it to fry the onions and it gives the whole sauce a depth you just can't get from regular olive oil.
  • Slice the fennel thin: The finer you slice it, the faster it softens and the sweeter it gets. A mandoline works brilliantly here if you've got one, though a sharp knife does the job just fine.
  • Save your pasta water: Before you drain the spaghetti, scoop out a mugful of the starchy cooking water. Stir a splash into the sauce and it brings everything together into something really silky and saucy.

Why This Works

The real secret here is using the oil from the sun dried tomatoes to start the sauce. That oil is packed with flavour and it makes the whole dish richer and more complex from the very first step. Cooking the fennel down properly is key too, don't rush it, because that's where all the sweetness comes from and it completely changes the character of the dish.