Fettuccine With Merguez and Mint Pesto
Updated October 19, 2016
Meredith Heuer for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
FOR THE PESTO
2 large cloves garlic
¼ cup pine nuts
⅔ cup, packed, fresh mint leaves (about 2 small bunches)
⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
FOR THE FETTUCCINE
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ pound fresh merguez sausage, casing removed
6 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and finely slivered
15 Kalamata olives, pitted
8 ounces dried fettuccine, preferably spinach
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
12 grams carbs; 33 milligrams cholesterol; 491 calories; 26 grams monosaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 46 grams fat; 4 grams fiber; 668 milligrams sodium; 11 grams protein; 2 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
- Step 1
Make the pesto: Turn on food processor, and drop garlic through feed tube to mince. Add pine nuts through the tube and grind. Add mint leaves and process until mixture is combined. Scrape down bowl, and with machine running, slowly drizzle in the ⅓ cup olive oil. Process until blended. Transfer to a small bowl and season to taste with salt. Set aside.
- Step 2
Make the pasta: Heat 3 quarts water in a large pot. As water comes to boil, heat oil in a large sauté pan, and sauté onion on medium-low until soft. Stir in cumin. Add merguez, increase heat to medium and cook, using two forks to break up the sausage and stirring all the while, until the meat is nubbly and no longer looks raw. Stir in sun-dried tomatoes, olives and 2 tablespoons of the pesto. Reduce heat to low.
- Step 3
Add fettuccine to boiling water and cook about 5 minutes, until nearly al dente. Drain, reserving ¾ cup of the pasta water, and set pasta aside. Add pasta water to the merguez mixture and let cook until liquid in the pan just coats the ingredients. Stir in lemon juice. Add fettuccine to sauté pan, tossing with other ingredients over low heat. Add salt to taste. Transfer to individual bowls or a serving dish and serve with remaining pesto alongside.
Private Notes
Comments
cardboard
For a vegetarian, what would be a good substitute for the merguez?
Grilled aubergine?
Plain ground lamb,generously spiced, works if you can't find merguez, and I prefer how the lean meat cuts down the relative oiliness of the dish. Go nuts with the olives.
Delicious. This is a great recipe. Made it exactly like the recipe, except I added a half bag of frozen chopped spinach toward the end. I used all the mint pesto, next time I’ll make a double batch of the pesto with a little less oil. And I added thinly sliced and then roughly chopped Meyer lemons to the onion sauté. The melted down and were delicious.
Fabulous recipe. I used walnuts instead of the pine nuts and added sundried tomatoes to the pesto sauce. I would add extra sundried tomatoes next time to the lamb mixture and also extra cumin (love the spice).