Pasta with Fennel & Tuna
This pasta is bright, briny, and has serious dirty martini vibes (and not just because you douse the vegetables in vermouth). Make sure you buy a fennel bulb with the stalky frilly fronds intact; we want to use the whole thing for this. Use both the rind and the pulp of the preserved lemon – it’s the secret to the salinity and vibrance that make this pasta so delicious. Because you’re adding a lot of salted ingredients, hold off on seasoning until the end so you don’t go overboard.
yield 3–4 servings
8 ounces spaghetti
1 bulb fennel, cored and thinly sliced, plus ¼ cup finely chopped fronds
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
3 small green garlic or 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tablespoons butter, divided
½ cup dry vermouth or white wine
¼ cup finely chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons preserved lemon, very finely chopped, plus 1 tablespoon brine
1 tablespoon capers or Castelvetrano olives, drained and coarsely chopped (optional)
1 can oil-packed tuna, crumbled into small pieces
1 lemon
crushed red pepper flakes, for serving
riffing
swap out tuna for another tinned fish like mackerel, sardines, or trout
add some chopped golden raisins in with the vermouth for a touch of sweetness
add quartered marinated artichoke hearts in place of (or alongside!) the fish
recipe prep
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta 3 minutes less than package directions. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid.
Return same pot to medium heat with 2 tablespoons butter. Add sliced fennel bulb, shallots, and green garlic; cook, stirring frequently, until fennel is softened and translucent (but not browned!). Add ½ cup vermouth, stirring occasionally, until liquid is almost evaporated.
Add spaghetti, lemon zest, ¼ cup parsley, ¼ cup fennel fronds, 2 tablespoons preserved lemon, 1 tablespoon preserved lemon brine, 1 tablespoon capers, tuna, and ½ cup reserved pasta water. Cook, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens enough to coat the pasta, 2–3 minutes. Add more pasta water as needed if sauce gets too thick.
Remove from heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon butter until butter is melted and everything is glossy. Zest lemon directly into the pasta. Halve lemon; juice one half into the pasta and cut the remaining half into wedges. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Sprinkle with some finely chopped parsley and red pepper flakes. Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over top.
