Homemade Linguine with Walnut and Broccoli Rabe Pesto (Recipe)

Food and Wine's Melissa Rubel Jacobson opts for broccoli rabe instead of basil to give a pleasing bitterness to this earthy pesto.  And in place of trenette (the classic noodle for pesto), she calls for the slightly thicker, easier-to-find linguine.

Ingredients

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons walnuts

1/2 pound broccoli rabe, trimmed

1 garlic clove

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Pinch of crushed red pepper

1/3 cup grated pecorino cheese, plus more for serving

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

3/4 pound linguine

4 Servings - Total: 30min

Steps

1.  Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread the walnuts in a pie plate and toast for 8 minutes, until fragrant and lightly golden; let cool. Chop 2 tablespoons of the walnuts.

2.  In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the broccoli rabe until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and let cool under cold water. Squeeze out the excess water and coarsely chop the broccoli rabe.

3.  In a food processor, mince the garlic. Add the 1/3 cup of walnuts; pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the broccoli rabe, olive oil and crushed red pepper and process until the broccoli rabe is very finely chopped. Add the 1/3 cup of pecorino and pulse until just combined. Season with salt and pepper. Scrape the pesto into a large bowl.

4.  In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the linguine until al dente. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup of the pasta cooking water. Add the linguine to the pesto sauce, then stir in the reserved cooking water and toss until the pasta is well coated with the pesto sauce. Sprinkle with the chopped walnuts and serve at once, passing more pecorino at the table.

* This recipe can easily be paired with a bright white wine or a medium-bodied red.  Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton, winemakers at Santa Barbara Country's Brewer-Clifton, have released two wines that would go equally well with this dish: the 2008 Santa Rita Hills Chardonnay and the 2008 Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir.

Homemade Spaghetti with Bolognese Sauce (Recipe)

Classic Bolognese sauce (from northern Italy's Bologna region) is made with a mix of fresh and cured meats.  In this version, Food and Wine's Marcia Kiesel uses a combination of meats - ground beef and pork, plus pancetta and pistachio - flecked mortadella - but increases the amounts to make the sauce extra hearty.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely diced

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 celery rib, finely diced

1 pound coarsely ground beef chuck

1 pound coarsely ground pork

1/4 pound mortadella, cut into 1/4-inch dice (optional)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 cup dry white wine

One 28-ounce can Italian whole tomatoes, chopped, juices reserved

1 1/2 cups chicken or beef stock or low-sodium broth

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons chopped basil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 pound spaghetti

1/4 cup heavy cream

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

6 Servings - Active: 45min; Total: 2hr 15min

Steps

1.  In a medium enameled cast-iron casserole, melt the butter in the oil. Add the garlic, pancetta, carrot, onion and celery and cook over moderately low heat until the onion is golden, about 5 minutes. Add the ground beef and pork and cook over moderate heat, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until no pink remains, about 8 minutes. Stir in the mortadella and tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juices, the stock, nutmeg and 1 tablespoon each of the parsley and basil and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until very thick, about 1 1/2 hours. Keep warm.

2.  In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the spaghetti until al dente. Drain and return it to the pot.

3.  Stir the cream and the remaining 2 tablespoons of parsley and 1 tablespoon of basil into the meat sauce. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, then add 2 cups to the spaghetti and toss. Transfer the spaghetti to a large bowl, top with the remaining sauce and serve. Pass the Parmesan cheese at the table.

*  Rich, meaty Bolognese is great paired with powerful Barolo, because the heartiness of the dish balances the tannins in the wine.  Good Barolos like the 2004 Ceretto Brisco Rocche Prapo and the 2004 Elvio Cogno Ravera Barolo are no bargain, but they're definitely worth the splurge.