The sweet, familiar combination of pine nuts and currants offsets the mild anise bitterness of fresh fennel here. Omit the pasta from this Sicilian sauce and you’ll have a good vegetable dish. If you can find the herb fennel (those living in southern California can find it wild, and many gardeners use it as an ornamental), use a few of the feathery parts of its stalks in place of the tops of the bulb. If you cannot, add the fennel seeds for stronger flavor.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　1/4 cup currants

　　1/4 cup pine nuts

　　Salt and black pepper

　　1 fennel bulb, about 1 1/2 pounds

　　1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

　　1 large onion, chopped

　　1 teaspoon fennel seeds, optional

　　1 pound bucatini or cut pasta, like penne or farfalle

　　

Step 1

Soak the currants in warm water to cover. Toast the pine nuts in a small dry skillet over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally, until lightly browned, just a few minutes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt. Separate the fennel stalks and leaves from the bulb; chop the bulb. Trim the feathery leaves, mince, and set aside. Chop the stalks and put them in the boiling water.

　　

Step 2

Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a medium skillet or saucepan over medium heat; a minute later, add the onion, chopped fennel bulb, and fennel seeds if you’re using them. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion and fennel are softened, 5 to 10 minutes. Add some salt and pepper. Drain the currants and add them, along with all but a tablespoon of the pine nuts. Scoop the chopped fennel stalks from the boiling water and add them, along with about 1/2 cup of the water. Simmer while you cook the pasta.

　　

Step 3

When the pasta is tender but not mushy, drain it, reserving a little of the cooking water. Put it in a bowl and add the sauce, along with a little of the reserved water if necessary. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then garnish with a little of the fennel leaves and the remaining pine nuts.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.