Garlicky whole-wheat pasta with fried hazelnuts

Pasta and macaroni Italian cuisine

This recipe celebrates whole-wheat pasta, leaning into its nuttiness without forcing it to be something it's not. You start off frying hazelnuts in olive oil (no pre-roasting necessary) until they’re deeply golden and irresistibly fragrant. When you remove the nuts from the skillet, you’re left with oil that’s infused with their richness—and ready to become pasta sauce. With chile flakes, garlic, and lemon—along with pecorino for more nutty saltiness and a pat of butter for gloss—it’s the ideal counterpart to the whole-wheat noodles: The crunchy hazelnuts provide a foundation of flavor that keeps the pasta from feeling out of place; the spicy, lemony sauce brightens it up to prevent the dish from feeling like it’s been buried underground.