Mezze Maniche Pasta with Walnut Sauce

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Serves one as a light entrée or lunch, or two people as a first course.

Prep Time5

Cook Time15

Total Time20

Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: mezze maniche recipe, walnut sauce recipe

Servings: servings

Calories: 462kcal

Cost: 10

1 small clove garlic thinly sliced or minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
⅓ cup water plus more as needed (don’t use pasta water)
Splash of dry white wine
3 oz dried pasta scant cup of penne, ziti, etc (weighing the pasta is ideal for the right result here)
3 tablespoons ground walnuts, raw & un-toasted
2 tablespoons heavy cream
¼ cup finely ground parmesan cheese, separated like parmigiano reggiano or grana padano
Kosher salt to taste
A few toasted coarsely chopped walnuts to garnish
Extra parmesan cheese to garnish

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and undercook it slightly. You will finish cooking the pasta by simmering it in the walnut sauce.
In a cold 10 inch saute pan, warm the butter and garlic and cook on medium heat until the edges of the garlic turn golden. Add the crushed walnuts and stir to mix with the butter.
Cook, stirring occasionally until the walnuts start to turn golden. Add the wine to the pan and cook off.
Add the pasta, water and cream to the pan and simmer over medium-high heat. Simmer the pasta in the sauce until it’s tender and tastes good to you.
If the pan threatens to dry out add another splash of water. Resist the urge to add pasta cooking water as it can become too salty.
When the pasta’s tender, add half the parmesan and stir to combine, then remove from the heat.
Transfer the pasta to a warm serving bowl, garnish with additional parmesan and toasted walnuts and serve immediately. Resist the urge to garnish with fresh chopped parsley, chives, or anything else and appreciate the rustic simplicity of your perfectly executed pasta.
When made correctly the pasta should be perfectly coated with sauce, with nearly none left in the pan. Unlike many other pastas, you should not be able to drizzle spoonfuls of the sauce from the pan on top of the pasta.

Instead of parmesan, add 1 oz crumbled gorgonzola to the pan and cook it for a moment at the end so it blends into the sauce.

To make the dried porcini mushroom & walnut sauce, substitute 1-2 tablespoons dried porcini mushrooms for 1 tablespoon of the walnuts.