Balsamic radicchio, blue cheese and hazelnut cavatappi
This extra special pasta recipe only takes 20 minutes to make but has all the wow-factor and indulgence of a dish you’d expect to find on a restaurant menu. Use cavatappi, or any short pasta you can find, and pair with oozy blue cheese, bitter radicchio and crunchy hazelnuts.
Or, for something a little more weeknight friendly, check out this roasted red onion, walnut and blue cheese pasta recipe.
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Ingredients
- 400g cavatappi, or other short pasta
- Extra-virgin olive oil for frying and drizzling
- 50g blanched hazelnuts, roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 1 small radicchio or 2 red chicory, shredded
- A few fresh thyme sprigs, leaves stripped
- 3 tbsp good-quality balsamic vinegar
- 150g blue cheese (gorgonzola dolce or piccante, or vegetarian stilton), crumbled
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Method
- Cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to the packet instructions until nearly al dente. Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan over a medium heat with a good drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil. Add the chopped hazelnuts and cook, stirring often, until very pale golden. Turn the heat down, add the garlic and cook for a minute or so until fragrant. Turn up the heat and add the radicchio or chicory along with the thyme and balsamic vinegar, tossing it in the pan so it wilts a little and the vinegar becomes syrupy.
- Once the pasta is cooked until just under al dente, drain, reserving a splash of the water. Tip the pasta and the reserved water into the radicchio pan and mix together. Cook over a low heat for a minute or so, then stir in the cheese, taste and season. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
- 654kcals Calories
- 27.5g (9.4g saturated) Fat
- 22.1g Protein
- 76.4g (5.3g sugars) Carbs
- 6.3g Fibre
- 1.6g Salt
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