Roasted Fennel and Pea Tri-Grain Penne with Hazelnuts

On a weekend trip to New Orleans, Louisiana, I dined at the famed Restaurant August, where fennel was presented to me as the star of my entrée. With this meal, I learned that fennel’s paleness—both in hue and taste—pairs best with other muted ingredients. And, like many vegetables, fennel’s excellence is teased out by certain cutting and cooking techniques: paper-thin slices for raw use, thin for quicker roasting (as I’ve done here), and quartered for slower roasting and braising.