Pasta with Champagne Lemon Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 untreated lemon
• 1 Garlic clove
• 1 Shallot
• 1 small fennel bulb
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 0.5 tbsp sugar
• 100 g crème fraîche
• 500 g conchiglie pasta
• Salt
• 100 ml champagne
• pepper (ground)
• 50 g Parmesan

Instructions

1. 1.

   Wash the lemon hot, pat dry and finely grate the zest. Squeeze out the juice. Peel the garlic and shallot and finely chop both. Wash the fennel and pat dry; shave half of it into very thin slices for garnish. Cut the remaining fennel into small pieces and remove the tough core. Heat olive oil in a pan, briefly fry the shaved fennel slices over medium to high heat and drain on paper towels. Add the chopped fennel, garlic, shallot, and lemon zest to the pan and steam for 2-3 minutes over low heat. Sprinkle sugar over and let melt. Deglaze with lemon juice, add vegetable broth and crème fraîche, stirring in. Simmer sauce for 6-8 minutes until fennel is tender.

2. 2.

   Meanwhile cook conchiglie according to package instructions in plenty of salted water until al dente.

3. 3.

   Use an immersion blender to puree the fennel-lemon sauce finely. Then add champagne, bring to a quick boil, season with salt and pepper. Drain pasta, let it dry slightly, then toss in the lemon-champagne sauce.

4. 4.

   Plate everything, season with pepper, garnish with fried fennel slices. Grate parmesan finely and sprinkle over.