Lucky Fennel
(Linguine with Fennel Cream)
Chef López : I thought of this recipe that uses fennel as a basic ingredient because it is a seasonal vegetable and because of all the stories and curiosities surrounding this vegetable. In Greek and Roman history, in fact, fennel was considered symbol of strength and vigor and they believe it brought luck. Some treatises on Ancient Rome reported how Roman gladiators added fennel to their dishes to be successful in the arena and, when they won the fights, they were crowned with a garland of fennel. This is also the reason why, for the Gucci Osteria menu,we called this dish “Lucky Fennel”.
INGREDIENTS (RECIPE FOR 2)
- Fennel for the cream 4
- Sliced fennel 2
- Red prawns 2
- Wild Fennel 200 g
- Pistachios 20
- Lemon 1
- Lemon Oil
- Seed Oil 400 g
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt
- Linguine (Pasta)100 g
PROCEDURES:
1. Cream
- Wash and cut the fennel coarsely, steam them at 90 ºC° for 2 hours
- Drain the fennel once cooked and whisk them with Evo oil and salt until creamy
- Pass the cream in the chinois strainer with fine mesh
2. Wild Fennel Oil
- Whisk 400 g of seed oil with 200 g of wild fennel
- Then heat the oil in a saucepan and bring it to a temperature of 80 ºC
- Filter the oil in a sac à poche and then filter it with the chinois strainer with fine mesh
3. Pistachios
- Toast the pistachios in the oven at 190 ºC for 4 minutes
- Grate them with a microplane
4. Dish
- Cook the linguine pasta in abundant salted water for about 5 minutes
- Drain the linguine and finish cooking in the pan for 3 minutes, adding the fennel cream and the lemon oil to make them creamy
- Season the raw and finely sliced fennel with the wild fennel oil
- Season the prawns with Evo oil and the lemon peel and cut them into 6 pieces each
PLATING
Spread the grated pistachios on the base of the plate, and lay a nest of linguine on top, developing it in height. Add 6 pieces of prawn, other pistachio powder and finely sliced fennel. Garnish the dish with wild fennel leaves.
Friendly note – If fennel is not available, the Chef suggests to change it to seasonal vegetables instead.
