This is a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe and I’ve made it a couple times before. Is it really a Bolognese? No, but it is a very delicious shrimp sauce laced with garlic and fennel that clings well to a long, wide pasta like tagliatelle. We had this over a squid ink tagliatelle I bought at Eataly at some point and then promptly put in my pantry to be forgotten about.
You are directed to chop up about a cup each of fennel bulb, onion, and cherry tomato. Slice up a bunch of garlic. Also chop up some shelled, cleaned shrimp. I skipped pulsing them all together (except the tomato - don’t pulse that) coarsely in the food processor (I just didn’t feel like cleaning it tonight). You cook these together with some crushed red pepper, some strips of lemon zest, and tarragon in olive oil until the vegetables are well sweated and the shrimp have released and then reabsorbed its juices, about 10 minutes. You will panic and think, “why are we cooking the shrimp so long?” Don’t. Trust Ottolenghi on this.
Now add some tomato paste and the chopped tomatoes. Also grind in “a lot” of black pepper. Cook another 4 minutes, until the tomatoes break down. In goes some Pernod (I just used white wine). Cook for another minute. Add 2 cups of stock (I used water and BTB vegetable flavor) and simmer for another 15 minutes. Toss with your cooked pasta and a glug of olive oil. Serves 4 (or me and BF).
If you haven’t made this one yet, I highly recommend it!
