Don’t be afraid, this is a really simple recipe, despite its very long title.
It is originally by Denis Cotter but I’ve adapted it to my own taste. Denis Cotter is an Irish chef whose restaurant “Cafe Paradiso” gets raving reviews from vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. Take this review for instance, from The Guardian:
“Here is a restaurant which treats food with wit, knowledge, spirit and enjoyment…it just happens to be vegetarian”
How’s that for a compliment?
(see more of Denis Cotter at http://www.cafeparadiso.ie)
For this recipe you’ll need (and this makes a serving for 2 hungry people)
- 10 cloves of garlic
- 2oo ml olive oil
- fresh parsley
- salt and pepper
- penne pasta
- 1 fennel bulb
- a dozen black olives
- some white wine
- a shallot
Here we go:
1. To make the roasted garlic -parsley oil toss the unpeeled garlic cloves in a little olive oil and roast them in the oven (low heat) until they are soft. The garlic cloves will tell you by their smell when the time has come;-)
2. Squeeze the garlic from the skins and blend with the olive oil (200 ml) and parsley in a food processor.
3. Chop the fennel and the shallot, cook them in a little olive oil for 15 minutes (moderate heat). Add some white wine, and let simmer for another 10 minutes.
4. Add the olives and the garlic-parsley oil.
5. Cook the pasta and add to the sauce. Salt and pepper.
6. Enjoy with a crisp white wine.
