1 full load of pasta dough OR Coffee Pasta dough made into linguine vegetable oil for deep-fat frying 2 cups honey 1/4 cup cognac 1 cup chopped pistachios OR almonds coffee or vanilla ice cream fresh mint leaves for garnish
Directions
Make linguine, divide into 6 portions, and form each portion into a bowl
Meanwhile, pour the oil to a depth of 2 inches in a deep-fat fryer and preheat to about 365 ?F
Put the bowl into a wire strainer and carefully lower into the oil
Hold it in position until the pasta is crisp and lightly golden about 2 to 3 minutes
Transfer the nest, bottom side up, to paper towel to drain while frying the other nests
(This can be done 3 to 4 hours in advance of serving.) In a saucepan, combine the honey and cognac over low heat
Cook, stirring almost continuously, until the honey comes to a boil
Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 2 minutes
Remove from the heat and cool to lukewarm
Just before serving, invert the nests and place them on plates
Sprinkle each nest with some of the nuts and spoon the honey mixture over the top to coat the nests
Add a scoop of ice cream in the center, sprinkle with the remaining nuts, garnish with mint or scented geranium, and serve immediately.
VARIATION: For a change make with chocolate pasta (recipe follows) and chocolate ice cream.
