Creamy Italian Walnut sauce (Tocco di Noci)
So this sauce is more a thick paste than a traditional pasta sauce but I find it a really versatile base to which other ingredients can be added and which could be used in all kinds of dishes. I’ve adapted it quite a bit from Anna del Conte’s recipe in The Painter, the Cook and the Art of Cucina. See the original recipe below and then my notes follow it.
How to Make it
200g/7oz shelled walnuts
25g/1oz unflavoured breadcrumbs
1 garlic clove, minced
30g/1oz finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 pinch minced fresh marjoram
175ml/6fl oz prescinseua (Ligurian curd cheese) or 150g/5fl oz fresh ricotta diluted with 2 tbsp tepid water
60ml/2.5fl oz extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to taste
sea salt (optional)
Place the walnuts, breadcrumbs, garlic and salt in a mortar and pound with a pestle to form a paste. Alternatively, place these ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until they form a paste. Transfer to a bowl if you are not using a pestle and mortar. Add the Parmesan and marjoram, then the prescinseua or diluted ricotta. Finally, add the olive oil to the mixture, a little at a time, stirring to combine the ingredients. Serve on hot pasta.
Lydia’s notes:
I prefer 2 garlic cloves, I like using either 0% Quark cheese or English Soft Curd cheese in the absence of Ligurian cheese (!), and I only added 2tbs olive oil and none of the parmesan to the paste itself, preferring to drizzle/sprinkle it on the pasta itself once it’s cooked. I also found that adding the soft cheese in the food processor worked fine. Saves a little work.
How I served it: (per person) 2tbs of the paste, 100g cooked pasta, along with some chopped sundried tomatoes, black olives and parsley, as well as some chili flakes. Seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil and parmesan.
