Spaghetti with Chianti and Fava Beans

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 6 servings
  • Total: 35 min
  • Active: 35 min
"The chianti dyes the pasta a beautiful shade of purple," says Giada.
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Ingredients

1 750-ml bottle of Chianti or other full-bodied red wine

Kosher salt

1 pound spaghetti

2 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 pound spicy Italian sausage, casings removed

1 shallot, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1/4 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature

2 pounds fava beans, taken out of the pod, blanched and peeled (see right)

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

Directions

  1. Pour the bottle of Chianti into a large pasta pot and add 2 quarts of water. Add a handful of salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the spaghetti and cook to just under al dente, about 8 minutes. Do not drain; you will need the pasta liquid for the sauce.
  2. While the pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and sausage to the hot pan and cook, breaking apart the sausage with the back of a wooden spoon. When the sausage is almost entirely cooked, about 4 minutes, add the shallot and garlic and cook an additional 2 minutes, stirring often. Using tongs or a pasta fork, scoop the pasta directly into the pan with the sausage. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup of the Parmigiano-Reggiano and toss with the tongs to combine. Add the mascarpone, fava beans, 1/4 teaspoon salt, the rosemary and about 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine, adding more pasta liquid as needed to form a sauce and coat the pasta. Serve sprinkled with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Cook’s Note

How to prepare the fava beans: Remove the beans from their pods. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl halfway with ice and cover the ice with water. Add the beans to the boiling water and blanch for 30 seconds. Drain well and plunge into the ice water to stop the cooking. Peel the white skin from the green bean and discard. The beans are now ready for use.

Let's Get Cooking!

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nisiji5071

Substituted homemade liverwurst for the Italian sausage. The result was to die for.

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