I made this dish last night for a few friends and everyone really enjoyed it. It is a perfect dish when making dinner for friends because it is so quick & doesn’t take much effort at all. I will warn you though, it is kind of a strange recipe because it almost feels like you are making french toast, well with out the eggs. Anyway, you will understand once you read the recipe. I love the creaminess of the pasta without the need to add a lot of dairy that makes you feel like you are in a food coma after dinner.
.:Ingredients:.
1 box of Orecchiette pasta
1 to 2 slices of bread, crusts removed
1/2 cup milk, or enough for bread to soak up; I used hemp milk
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic
2 to 3 Tsp olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
1. Start by cooking pasta according to package directions. Orecchiette usually takes about 8-10 minutes to cook which is about how long this dish takes to prepare in total.
2. While pasta is cooking, toast the walnuts on medium heat for about 3 minutes or until you can smell a nutty aroma. Be carful not to burn them!
3. After the walnuts have toasted, put the bread in a bowl and cover with milk. Make sure the bread is soggy and has soaked up most of the milk.
4. In a food processor or blender add walnuts, garlic, soaked bread, and parmesan. Blend until creamy.
5. After walnut cream is blended, add olive oil, salt & pepper to taste. I also like to add a little sage at this point, but a pinch of any herb you like works too.
6. Once pasta is done, drain, but reserve some of the pasta water to thin out the walnut sauce a little.
7. Put cooked pasta into a large bowl and mix in the walnut creme. If sauce is too thick just add a little of the reserved pasta water until you reach the consistency you like.
8. Top with a few toasted walnuts and freshly grated parmesan cheese and serve.
Enjoy 🙂