Italian Walnut Pasta (Pasta con Salsa de Noci)
This creamy, nutty pasta dish from Liguria, Italy combines pasta with a no-cook walnut sauce for a fast weeknight dinner.
‘Salsa di noce’ or ‘walnut sauce’ is an historic Italian sauce that requires no cooking, besides boiling some pasta. Originally from Liguria in the Italian North-West, this ‘white pesto’ is commonly used as a pasta sauce in the autumn’s walnut season. It’s usually paired with a short pasta or a filled pasta but it can be used to dress tagliatelle too. The idea of this sauce was to make use of autumnal ingredients, particularly after basil’s summer prime. It’s a simple combination of breadcrumbs, walnuts, cheese and milk, with some olive oil and aromatics for flavouring. It makes two portions, but if making it for one, you can make the sauce ahead, keep it in the fridge and just combine what you need with some freshly cooked pasta. Let’s go!
INGREDIENTS (serves 2x)
200g dried, short pasta or tagliatelle
70g walnuts
1x clove garlic
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons of parmesan cheese or pecorino
5 tablespoons breadcrumbs
100ml milk or cream
pinch of black pepper
pinch of dried thyme or marjoram
WALKTHROUGH
An hour before cooking, add the 70g of walnuts to a jug and cover with boiling water. Let them soak for 15 minutes to remove their bitterness.
Into a pestle and mortar or food processor, add the drained walnuts, 1x clove garlic, 2x tablespoons olive oil, 3x tablespoons parmesan cheese, 5 tablespoons breadcrumbs, a pinch of black pepper and thyme and 100ml of milk/cream. Blend the mixture to form a smooth paste, adding more milk or water if needed, to loosen it to a Greek yoghurt consistency. This makes 2x portions of sauce - you can chill it in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Place your 200g of pasta into boiling, salted water and cook to 1 minute before the packet instructions.
Drain the pasta and add it to a mixing bowl with the white pesto mixture. Reserve the pasta water. Mix the pesto vigorously with the pasta until well-coated, adding splashes of the hot pasta water.
Serve the pasta immediately with shavings of parmesan and a handful of toasted walnuts. Enjoy!
