Olive and Fennel Pasta with Turkey

I was going to make hamburgs for dinner last night, but then I saw nice olives on sale. I would have put the olives in the hamburgs, but then I found some nice fennel and turkey drumsticks.

In a big pan or pot:
1 tsp oil
brown the drumsticks
1 1/2- 2 onions chopped
4 cloves of garlic
2 large carrots chopped small
1/2 cup chopped turnip or swede
1 bulb of fennel (save the tops)
1 cup chopped olives
Cook the veg down for about 5min.
Add 1 can of tomatoes and water to cover.
Salt, pepper, dried herbs (oregano, basil, parsley) and 1 tsp of smoked paprika.
Cook for 15 min or until the turkey done.
Top with fresh parsley and the fennel tops.

With so much nice veg in the sauce, pasta is optional. We had tagliatelle and it was yummy!

Fennel and Mushroom Orecchiette

A friend asked me "Where is Italian NG?". I remember as a child asking my mom the same thing. "Why do we always eat rice?" Now I almost never make pasta. Its funny because my husband loves pasta, and I would almost always want to eat rice! So I made this meal to answer my friend. Here is Italian NG's Dinner:


I found some really nice imported orecchiette, which are little pasta ears. I wanted to make a simple sauce,with tons of veg but the orecchiette are small and I didn't want to overpower them.
In a non-stick pan over med heat:
1 tsp oil
1 finely chopped onion
1/2 a finely chopped fennel bulb
9 cloves of roasted garlic
9 mushrooms, sliced so they look like the orecchiette
1 tsp fennel seed
Salt and pepper

After the mushrooms stop giving off liquid and the onions have a nice colour add:
1 can Roma tomatoes
1/2 cup sliced olives rings

Cook for 10-15 min or until pasta is ready. Can add some of the pasta liquid if the sauce is too dry.

Mix with the orecchiette and top with fennel greens.