Macaroni with walnut sauce

So, over the weekend, I learned to make a no-cook lacto-vegetarian sauce based on a recipe in The Silver Spoon.

Walnut sauce (salsa di noci) is made with crushed walnuts, olive oil, cream and salt. That was what The Silver Spoon recipe specified. But, you know, with home cooking, if something is not to your exact liking, it makes more sense to tweak here and there to make the dish look and taste exactly as you prefer.

Macaroni with walnut sauce

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Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Servings: 2 to 3

Author: Connie Veneracion

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole roasted walnuts
• 2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 to 3 tablespoons cream
• 2 to 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• lemon juice to taste
• cooked macaroni
• fried crisp bacon optional

Instructions

• If the walnuts have skins, blanch in boiling water for about two minutes then drain and lay on a kitchen towel to dry and cool. Rub the skins off with the kitchen towel.
• Roughly chop the walnuts. Place in a food processor or blender, add the olive oil and cream, and process until the desired texture is reached. You can opt for a coarse chop which will give the sauce more texture, or you can process the walnuts until the mixture turns pasty.
• Pour the sauce into a bowl. Add salt and pepper, and just enough lemon juice to create a pleasing balance.
• Toss cooked pasta with a tablespoonful or two of the walnut paste. The carnivores might want to top the dish with bacon before digging in.