Ligurian Walnut Pesto Pasta

Ligurian Walnut Pesto Pasta is a traditional dish from Liguria, Northwest Italy. This walnut sauce may not be as famous as other varieties of pesto, but it is equally delicious and easy to make.

Hello, folks – how are you doing? I hope you have had a great week, and you are ready to enjoy the weekend. Are you cooking anything special?

And if you have not decided this yet, you can probably make this Ligurian Walnut Pesto Pasta!

Ligurian Walnut Pesto Pasta

Have you ever heard of this walnut sauce from Liguria? Perhaps, not. I did not know about it until last year, when I found the recipe on one of my favourite blogs the Pasta Project.

It is super easy to make – just like any other pesto sauce.

Traditionally, this sauce is made with fresh walnuts. But, of course, you can use dried ones – given that the harvest season typically occurs for a few weeks between late September and early November. Also, dried walnuts should be sweet and as fresh as possible. There is an optional step to boil shelled walnuts for a few minutes which helps remove their skin and makes them taste sweeter. I opted out of this step.

Besides walnuts, you will need pine nuts, milk, stale country bread, Parmigiano Reggiano, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, marjoram, and salt and pepper. It is hard to find fresh marjoram in Nova Scotia, so I added just a little of both mild oregano and thyme.

What Pasta to Use

Jacqui from the Pasta Project suggests that croxetti and trofie both are the traditional choices for this sauce. Other choices would be casarecce and cavatappi or similar shapes. I believe fuzzilli or even penne will be an excellent choice, too. Really, any short pasta with ridges will be perfect for holding chunky sauces. In this recipe, I opted for casarecce.

More Italian Pasta Recipes

Pasta with Chicken Liver

Pasta al Baffo (Creamy Tomato Ham Pasta)

Ragù alla Bolognese (Pappardelle Bolognese)

Pasta with Lamb Ragù

Pasta alla Papalina (Creamy Ham and Pea Pasta with Eggs)

I hope you like this Ligurian Walnut Pesto Pasta, and you will give it a try shortly. If you make it, please let me know in the comment section of this post below or send me an Instagram message or share your photos by adding the hashtag #havocinthekitchen.

Cheers!

Ligurian Walnut Pesto Pasta

Recipe by Ben | HavocinthekitchenCourse: MainCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Ligurian Walnut Pesto Pasta is a traditional dish from Liguria, Northwest Italy. This tasty pesto is made with bread, milk, pine nuts, Parmigiano Reggiano, and extra virgin olive oil.

The recipe adapted from The Pasta Project – Authentic Pasta Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups (200 g) walnuts halves

• 1/4 cup (25 g) pine nuts

• 1 cup (240 ml) milk

• 2 medium slices stale country bread

• 1 garlic clove, peeled

• 1/4 cup (40-50 g) Parmigiano Reggiano

• 4-5 tbsp. (60-75 ml) extra virgin olive oil

• fresh marjoram leaves – I used a little of both mild thyme and oregano

• salt and pepper, to taste

• 350-400 g. short pasta such as trofie, casarecce, penne or fusilli

Directions

• Break the bread into pieces and place it in a bowl then add the milk. Let it stay for 10 minutes or so to soak. Drain and squeeze the excess of milk from the bread. Reserve the milk.
• Place the bread in a blender or food processor along with the walnuts and the garlic. Pulse a few times until the walnuts remain fine crumbs. Add the Parmigiano Reggiano, pine nuts, and a good pinch of salt. Pulse for about 20 seconds until the sauce becomes  a bit smooth.
• Continue to pulse while adding olive oil a little at a time and the remaining milk from the bread as needed to achieve a thick creamy sauce.
• To cook pasta, bring a large pot of water to the boil. Salt well. Add in the pasta and cook according to the package instructions, until al dente. Reserve one cup of pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.
• Return the pasta to the pot, add about 1/2 of the walnut pesto, then add 1/2 ladle of pasta water to the sauce, adding more as necessary to loosen up the sauce. Stir in marjoram leaves or a few oregano and thyme leaves (keep in mind their flavour is more potent than marjoram has, so don’t be too heavy on them.) Now, you can add more of the pesto, as desired, as well as freshly ground black pepper and a little more grated Parmigiano. Mix everything together well and serve immediately.
• Keep any pesto leftovers for up to 4 days in a air-tight container refrigerated.

Ben | Havocinthekitchen

Hi – I’m Ben, a blogger, recipe developer, and food photographer. I’m glad you’re here! I hope you will enjoy hundreds of delicious recipes and a pinch of havoc in the kitchen.