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Whole-Wheat Pasta with Yogurt and Tahini
While we recommend robustly flavored whole-grain pasta to complement this creamy, nutty sauce, traditional pasta also was delicious. Short pasta such as orecchiette, farfalle and penne worked as well as flat noodles, like fettucine and tagliatelle. Adding the lemon zest to both the toasted walnuts and tahini sauce gave the dish a double layer of flavor. The ratio of yogurt to tahini was key to a full-flavored, creamy sauce. A bit of olive oil helped emulsification. Use a good-quality tahini made from toasted sesame seeds; if it’s salt-free, you may need to adjust the seasoning.
4
Servings
Don’t substitute traditional yogurt for Greek-style or the sauce will be too thin. While 2-percent Greek-style yogurt will work, we preferred the richness and creaminess of whole-fat. Nonfat Greek-style yogurt had a chalky texture and lacked flavor.
25 minutes
Ingredients
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2
garlic cloves, finely grated
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1
teaspoon grated lemon zest, plus 3 tablespoons lemon juice (1 to 2 lemons)
Directions
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01Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the garlic and lemon juice and let sit for 10 minutes. In a small skillet over medium-low, toast the walnuts and cumin seeds, stirring frequently, until golden brown and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in the scallions, ½ teaspoon of lemon zest and pinch salt.
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GET DIGITAL & PRINTThe sauce on pasta is delicious. (Not a fan of whole wheat pasta nor farfalle shape, I used white cavatappi.) The sauce is also great used to top oven baked sweet potatoes or other roasted veg or spread on sturdy artisan toasted bread when made as follows without thinning from pasta water: Mix yogurt, tahini, olive oil, lemon zest and juice, garlic with a pinch or two of salt and stir until smooth. Mix in scallions, toasted walnuts and crushed cumin seeds. Good made several hours or a day ahead.
Delicious! Didn't have whole wheat pasta on hand so used orecchiette as suggested. Another Milk Street winner!