Baked pasta with fennel and béchamel
- Vegetarian
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: 15 min
- Cook time: 30 min
- Serving: 4
- Cost: Low
PRESENTATION
In southern Italy, people really love cozy, oven-baked dishes. Seriously, baked pasta with fennel is a favorite at family tables. This pasta al forno with fennel combines tender sautéed fennel and creamy béchamel to give you a blend of rustic flavor and comfort in every bite. And the fennel? There's something about how the fresh, slightly sweet taste changes when cooked—both raw crunch and oven-soft pieces. Pretty awesome.
It works perfectly for a big Sunday lunch or in single-serving ramekins. In places like Puglia and Sicily, you'll find this dish baked with whole wheat pasta, which makes the flavors different with a nutty, earthy touch. The real magic—it's the homemade béchamel sauce. To be honest, achieving the right balance so the top gets golden and the inside stays moist and rich is key.
For those who love experimenting with vegetable casseroles, this fennel pasta bake sits alongside classics like spinach and ricotta bakes. Italians focus on getting the béchamel just right: smooth, not too thick, and with a buttery finish that hugs every bit of pasta and fennel. When it comes out of the oven, the top turns crispy and brown, while the bottom stays soft and creamy, so each bite offers a great mix of textures. It’s so so good.
No wonder people enjoy making this fennel and béchamel pasta at home. Trying different cheeses or adding extra herbs for a twist? Which is great. Leftovers are a real treat, as the flavors seem to improve the next day. Whether you're feeding a crowd or just want something special on a weeknight, this baked pasta with béchamel sauce brings the warmth and energy of southern Italy right to your table. For real. It gives you a reason to get excited about fennel again. Plus, it's a perfect way to explore new flavors while sticking to traditional Italian roots.
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INGREDIENTS
- Whole wheat Fusilli pasta 7 oz (200 g)
- Fennel 1.3 lbs (590 g)
- Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheese 0.7 oz (20 g) - to grate
- Garlic 1 clove
- Extra virgin olive oil to taste
- Fine salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- For the béchamel
- Whole milk 2.1 cups (500 ml)
- Butter 3 ½ tbsp (50 g)
- Type 00 flour 0.3 cup (50 g)
- Nutmeg to taste
- Fine salt 1 pinch
- for greasing
- Butter to taste
How to prepare Baked pasta with fennel and béchamel
To prepare the baked pasta with fennel and béchamel, bring a pot of plenty of water to a boil to cook the pasta. Salt when boiling. Then move on to the fennel: remove the top 1 and bottom ends, remove the outermost layer 2, and slice the fennel into thin slices 3. You should get about 290 grams (10 oz) of cleaned fennel. Set aside.
Prepare the béchamel: heat the milk in a saucepan 4 and melt the butter over low heat in a separate pan 5. When the butter is melted, add the flour all at once 6
and mix well to avoid lumps 7 until you obtain a golden roux. At this point, add the salt 8 and grated nutmeg 9 (or you can add them once the béchamel is ready),
then pour the milk in a thin stream while continuing to stir with a whisk 10. Thicken the cream over medium heat, without stopping stirring, until you get a smooth and uniform béchamel 11. Turn off the heat and set it aside for the moment. When the water for cooking the pasta comes to a boil, salt it and cook the pasta for about 8 minutes (you should cook it al dente) 12.
Meanwhile, heat a drizzle of oil in a pan along with a crushed clove of garlic in its skin, add the fennel 13, season with salt and pepper 14, and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes so that they remain crunchy. After the indicated time, remove the garlic, drain the pasta directly into the pan with the fennel, mix well 15 and sauté everything for 1 minute over medium heat.
Grease 4 cocottes with a diameter of 10 cm (4 inches) 16 and cover the base with a spoonful of béchamel 17, then fill the molds halfway with pasta and fennel and add another 2 tablespoons of béchamel to each cocotte 18.
Add more pasta until it reaches the edge of the molds 19 and finish with plenty of béchamel, a grind of pepper, and a tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese 20. Bake the cocottes in a preheated static oven at 392°F (200°C) for about 10 minutes until they are nicely golden on top. Your baked pasta with fennel and béchamel is ready to be served hot 21!