Pasta alla Noci ~ Walnut Pesto

A typical Autumn pasta dish in Sicily. Especially for anyone who has a walnut tree on their property! This is fresh and simple. You can prepare this in less than 30 minutes.

You can watch us collect walnuts from our backyard and prepare this recipe: Todd & Vittoria’s Sicilian Food Adventures: Pasta alla Noci

Ingredients

• 450 g/1 lb spaghetti, dried (26 oz/750 g fresh pasta)
• 160 g walnut kernels (20 walnuts)
• 20 g (2 tbsp) pine nuts
• 160 g (3/4 c) whole milk
• 40 g (1/2 c) bread crumbs
• 70 g (1/3 c) olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 40 g grated Parmesan
• Handful of Fresh basil
• Salt

Preparation

1. Blanch walnuts. Place walnut kernels in bowl. Pour boiling water to cover. Allow to rest 5 minutes. This will soften the skin and reduce any bitter taste.
2. Meanwhile, put breadcrumbs into a small bowl along with the milk. Let it soak.
3. Start pasta water. When it boils, add salt. Cook pasta to al dente.
4. Drain walnuts. Place on a cloth and rub gently to remove some of the skin.
5. In food processor, add walnuts, moist bread crumbs, pine nuts, garlic, basil, grated Parmesan. Blend, drizzling with olive oil. Pulse & blend. Add salt & pepper to taste.
6. In large bowl pour in walnut pesto and a ladle of hot pasta water, stir to mix. When pasta is finished cooking, add drained pasta directly to the pesto. Stir to coat.
7. Garnish with freshly cracked black peppercorns, walnut kernels, basil leaves.

Have you tried to prepare this recipe??? Please leave a reply below to let us know how you like it…