Name: Pasta with Walnut Sauce
Total time: 50 min
Cuisine: ItalianEurope
Ingredients: 1½ cups walnuts , toasted; 1¼ cups heavy cream; 1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (½ cup); Salt and pepper; 1 pound trenette; 1 teaspoon minced fresh marjoram leaf or oregano, plus extra for serving

Why This Recipe Works

The temperate Mediterranean climate and forested hills of Liguria make it a perfect environment for a wide range of wild greens, herbs, and nuts to flourish. Some of these go into salsa di noci, a thick, rich, creamy pasta sauce made with walnuts and herbs. Some recipes include pine nuts (also plentiful nearby), but we preferred recipes that used only walnuts for clean, rounded walnut flavor. Toasting the walnuts gave the sauce greater depth, and using a combination of ground walnuts and coarsely chopped pieces offered a balance of background richness and textural contrast. Cooking the pasta just shy of al dente and then finishing it in the sauce—stirring it in with a generous amount of the pasta's starchy cooking water—ensured that every bite was perfectly tender and well-coated. A sprinkling of fresh marjoram, which grows freely on the region's hillsides, finished the dish with a soft herbal note. In Liguria, this sauce is traditionally served over a filled pasta called pansotti, or a ribbon-like pasta called trenette.

Before You Begin

Fettucine, linguine, and tagliatelle are wider than trenette, but work well as substitutes if you can't find trenette. We prefer the flavor and texture of fresh pasta here, but dried can be used as well.

Instructions

Process 1 cup walnuts in food processor until finely ground, about 10 seconds; transfer to bowl. Pulse remaining ½ cup walnuts in now-empty processor until coarsely chopped, about 2 pulses.

Bring cream to simmer in 12-inch skillet over medium heat and cook until thickened slightly, about 2 minutes. Whisk in ground and chopped walnuts, Parmigiano, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper; cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until almost al dente. Reserve 1½ cups cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot. Add sauce, 1 cup reserved cooking water, and marjoram and toss to combine. Bring to simmer over medium heat and cook, tossing frequently, until pasta is tender and most of sauce has been absorbed, about 2 minutes. Adjust consistency with remaining ½ cup cooking water as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately in warmed bowls, sprinkling with extra marjoram.