Pasta with Walnut Sauce (Salsa di Noci)

This Ligurian pasta with walnut sauce (salsa di noci) is a rustic delicacy from Italy’s North West. Rich, silky and creamy it’s packed with flavour and a luxurious texture. It might just be one of my favourite pasta sauces.

Liguria is one of my favourite regions of Italy. The picture perfect coastline is dotted with towns and villages perched precariously on cliffs and tiny harbours house many hidden restaurants serving all manner of exquisite dishes found only in the region or indeed that village.

Genoa, Liguria's largest city has some of the finest offerings in the whole of Italy. The pesto is unlike any other you'll ever taste, the seafood, the foccacia and then there's THIS triumphantly simple and flavourful sauce made from walnuts. A creamy and luxuriant sauce that has bags of flavour from only a few simple ingredients.

My discovery of salsa di noci (walnut sauce) was so moving for me that I think I ordered the same dish every night of my stay in the city. Making it at home is not hard and the results nothing short of spectacular.

What's Ahead?

What is Salsa Di Noci

Salsa di noci simply translates as walnut sauce and it's a dish typical of Liguria. The sauce is served in many ways, but usually with pasta such as this tubular pasta or with stuffed pasta called Pansotti.

It's also served with discs of pasta, stamped with family coats of arms of patterns called Corzetti. I have a corzetti stamp somewhere, one of those holiday impulse purchases. It's currently in storage in either the USA or UK and soon to be on its long journey back to Australia where I live now. Maybe one day I'll update this recipe with some corzetti photography!

Salsa di noci is typically made from walnuts, garlic, pecorino or Parmigiano Reggiano, often cream or bread soaked in milk. My recipe opts for a version using bread in milk as it gives the sauce a creamy texture that is more stable than simply cream as I've had a few sauces split on me. It's an easy dish to put together and a great option for a midweek dinner or quick lunch.

Why it works?

It's quick and easy - I love that the sauce doesn't require much putting together. The only cooking needed is to gently toast the walnuts and then the pasta, it's pretty much a blending and strirring kind of affair.

Stuff You'll Need

To make my version of pasta with walnut sauce only requires a few simple ingredients:

• Bread and milk - stale bread with crusts cut off is soaked in milk to soften. It adds a little backbone to the sauce.
• Walnuts - the star of the show. Many recipes ask to remove the skin, This is a kitchen job too far for me, so I'll make a feeble effort to do this then invariably give up and leave most of the skins on. The flavour is unaffected.
• Garlic - will add more flavour
• Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino cheese - adds a salty umami and pairs excellently with the nutty walnuts.
• Olive oil - creates an emulsion in the sauce to make it creamy and silky.
• Pasta - I like a tubular shape like rigatoni but knock yourself out and use your favourite pasta.

Step by Step

It's so simple to make your own walnut sauce, here's how.

1. Step 1 - Soak the bread pieces in some milk for about 10 minutes.
2. Step 2 - Toast the walnuts in the oven for about 8-10 minutes then rub them a little to remove the excess skins. I'm not super thorough with this stage - the skins don't affect the flavour in my opinion.
3. Step 3 - Blend the bread, milk, walnuts, garlic, cheese, olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
4. Step 4 - Cook your pasta in salted water, retaining about a cupful of the cooking liquid. Drain and then tip the pasta into a large bowl with a few generous spoonfuls of the sauce. Add some of the pasta cooking liquid to help loosen the sauce a little and emulsify it a little more. It should cling to the pasta generously. Adjust with more sauce or cooking liquid until it's good and creamy.

That's it! All you need to do now is serve - don't put the pasta back on the heat. This will affect the flavour and texture of the sauce. It's a dressing style sauce that shouldn't be cooked.

Storage Suggestions

• Fridge - The sauce will stay fresh for 3-4 days in the fridge (in an airtight container). I've noticed that it continutes to thicken over time, most likely due to bot the bread and nuts continuing to absorb the liquid. Thin out the sauce with a little more milk if yours has become too thick.
• Freezer - walnut sauce is fine to be frozen. The one stipulation is that you should defrost it naturally and not using a microwave. The microwave will cook the sauce and ruin the flavour. The sauce will be good in the freezer for up to 3 months in airtight containers.

Ready to get cooking?

For a true window into the magical world of Liguran cuisine, this pasta with salsa di noci is a great start. It's quick, easy and truly delicious. It's an often overlooked sauce that I've not seen on any restaurant menus outside of Italy. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places. But anyhoo, that's all irrelevant now that I can make my own in a matter of minutes at home. I'm sure you'll enjoy this recipe, let me know what you think!

More Italian recipes

If you liked my pasta with walnut sauce, I'm sure you'll love some more of my favourite Italian recipes.

• Pulled Lamb with Nduja and Borlotti Beans
• Spaghetti with Pesto Genovese
• Vitello Tonnato
• Anelletti Al Forno
• Pasta Alla Norma
• Orecchiette with Sausage & Broccoli Rabe
• Foglie D’Ulivo with Pancetta & Olives
• Spaghetti with Cavolo Nero & Almonds
• Cavatelli with Pork Ragù
• Garganelli Pasta with Mushroom Ragù
• Hugo Spritz Cocktail

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