Recipe: Macaroni's Got the Blues

Serves 4

- 1/4 cup pine nuts

- 8 ounces fine, briny pungent blue cheese, crumbled (see Kitchen Notes)

- 1/3 cup heavy cream or mascarpone (see Kitchen Notes)

- 3 tablespoons good-quality pesto, homemade or store-bought

- 12 ounces tubular pasta, such as penne; or flat noodles or ribbon, such as tagliatelle

1. Lightly toast pine nuts in a heavy nonstick frying pan over medium heat until the nuts turn golden brown in spots. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl to cool.

2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine blue cheese with cream and pesto. Set aside.

3. Cook pasta in a large pot of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and reserve about ¼ cup cooking water. Toss hot pasta with blue cheese mixture, adding a few spoonfuls of the hot cooking water to bind the sauce to the pasta. Sprinkle with pine nuts and serve on warmed plates.

Times Kitchen Notes:

• Point Reyes Blue, Oregon Blue or Roquefort are all good choices to use in this dish.

• Mascarpone is a fresh, very rich cow's milk cheese that is sold in small plastic tubs. For a dish that isn't as rich, substitute half-and half or milk.

From "Macaroni & Cheese" by Marlena Spieler