Ingredients
1 shallot (or half a mild sweet onion)
2 heaped teaspoons chopped garlic
1 large head of fennel (Florence fennel, sometimes called 'anise' in the USA)
1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
450g shrimp
ground black pepper
parmesan cheese (optional) - alternatively, 1 teaspoon flax oil per person
Method
Take the skin off the shallot and slice it into 2mm wide strips, then chop.
Trim the root end off the fennel, and slice it into 1 cm wide strips, then into bite size lengths.
Cut 2 or 3 thumbnail sized pieces of lemon rind into 2mm strips and chop. Slice the rest of the lemon. Put all of these, with some ground black pepper and the olive oil, into a non-stick pan with a close fitting lid. Bring up to the boil and part steam, part saute for about 10 minutes, until the fennel and onion has softened. Stir occasionally so that the garlic doesn't burn. Add the shrimp, and cook for another 5 or 7 minutes, depending on the size of the shrimp and whether it was raw or cooked. Cooked shrimp is opaque, white and "set" in texture. Adjust the pan lid to boil off more or less liquid from the shrimp. If using parmesan cheese, cut very fine slices and lay them on top of the servings; if using flax oil, add a teaspoon to each plate.
Serve on lettuce leaves. You may prefer to remove the lemon slices before serving.
This recipe originally included pasta bows cooked separately and added to the pan for the last few minutes. That, of course, changes the moisture balance significantly.