Pasta with Sautéed Fennel and Fresh Tomatoes

Can't have an Italian cookbook without some pasta dishes in it! In the "Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook" there are 41 pasta recipes, and several of the side dishes or polenta toppings would work out great as pasta toppings as well.

The pasta dish I chose to try out is made with fennel and fresh tomatoes. It's a fast and simple dish, anyone who has figured out how to turn on the stove will be able to cook it.

Start out by sautéeing the fennel in olive oil with some garlic. Throw in the tomatoes and cook until everything is done and  the tomatoes have gone all mushy and saucy. Toss with pasta and serve with some parmesan cheese, black pepper and nice olive oil on the side.

Most of the pasta recipes in the book are built around one or two types of vegetables that get cooked in an optimal way, pasta sauce wise. They can be stewed in a tomato sauce, simply tossed with olive oil, roasted in the oven or tossed with ricotta. Note though, as in most recipes that contain few ingredients, each ingredient gets a lot of exposure. That means that this dish will taste just as good (or bad) as the quality of the ingredients used.