Combinations 14: A Wine For Pasta with Walnut Sauce  Add/Read Comments

An Italian slant I feel is in order for the next round of Combinations. This recipe is taken from a recipe book that I have had for years but do not recall ever cooking from - Antonio Carluccio's Passion for Pasta

The idea behind Combinations is to create the dish from the recipe and report on a wine match to accompany the dish. This dish requires the use of Fettuccine, a wider version of Tagliatelle, but a green/verdi version; of which, despite forays into a deli and Waitrose I have failed to find.

Fettuccine Verdi with Walnut Sauce serves 4.

• 1 tablespoon fresh white breadcrumbs
• 150g shelled walnuts or hazelnuts
• 1 small clove garlic
• 50g freshly grated Pecorino cheese
• Salt
• 1 tablespoon chopped Marjoram
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons strianed Greek yoghurt
• 450g fresh green fettuccine
• freshly ground black pepper

Soak breadcrumbs in water for 10 minutes, then squeeze them dry. Remove skins from the nuts by immersing them in hot water then rubbing. Dry on paper towels. Place in mortar with breadcrumbs, garlic, the Pecorino, salt and Marjoram.

Pound with a pestle to a fine texture. Slowly add the oilve oil, stirring constantly. Stir in the yoghurt to make a smooth sauce.

Cook the pasta for 5-7 minutes. Drain and toss the pasta with the sauce.

Not a terribly tricky dish to find a decent match for I would have thought - nuts, cheese a little herby edge... what can you suggest?