The combination of walnuts and miso creates a culinary illusion that tricks your mouth into thinking you’re eating a sauce that includes a sharp, aged dry cheese like Parmigiano Reggiano. The idea for this rich, nutty condiment started with salsa di noci, the Ligurian walnut sauce that’s thought to be the ancient ancestor of pesto alla genovese made with basil.
Many recipes have you blanch the walnuts to slip off their skins, but they’re what make this modern take on the classic work. Walnut skins are loaded with tannins, the same dry sharpness you notice in red wine or strong tea. Blend them with the earthy fermented flavor and umami of miso, and you land somewhere close to a hard cheese that’s been aged a good while. The garlic wraps it all up into a neat creamy bundle of flavor that makes everything from steamed vegetables to a bowl of hot pasta taste incredible.
Why This Recipe Works
- The walnut skins stay on — Blanching and peeling walnuts strips out their tannins. Here they create the sharpness of a hard cheese while the miso brings the umami.
- Bread crumbs to bring it together — A starchy binder holds the oil, the nuts, and pasta water together into a smooth emulsion that resists separating. I use panko because of its light color, but any breadcrumbs or stale bread will work.
- Finish the sauce with pasta water — The starchy cooking water you boil the pasta in turns the paste into a creamy sauce.
Key Ingredients
- Walnuts — These are the foundation of the sauce, creating a rich earthy flavor that turns creamy when they are blended. The tannins in the skin give the sauce its sharp edge.
- Organic Miso White — This rich unpasteurized miso paste stands in for the cheese. Salty and fermented yet with a mellow, mildly sweet taste, it balances out the sharpness of the walnuts without taking over the sauce.
- Panko — Serves as the emulsifier pulling the olive oil and the pasta water into one smooth sauce without adding much flavor of its own.
- Garlic — Raw and pungent, in a small enough amount that it ties the nuts and the miso together instead of taking over.
- Milk — Just enough to soften the panko and round out the texture. Any nut milk works in its place if you want to make the sauce plant-based.
How to Make Creamy Walnut Pesto
Everything for the sauce goes into a food processor or a tall beaker for an immersion blender, and it gets blended until it’s smooth. You can also do it with a mortar and pestle, but unlike pesto alla genovese, there isn’t a noticeable difference by using a blender. What you’re after is a thick, spreadable paste with no visible pieces of walnut left in it, closer to a nut butter than to a chunky pesto.
While that’s happening, bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. The pasta cooks according to its package directions, and tagliatelle is what I used because the wide ribbons carry a thick sauce well.
About two minutes before the pasta is done, ladle some of the boiling water straight into the walnut paste and whisk. The paste will be pretty chunky at first, but keep whisking and it will get creamy and come together. It’s important to get started on this while your pasta has some time left so the sauce is ready when the timer goes off.
Drain the pasta, but save more of the cooking water in a bowl before you do. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss until every strand is coated. If it starts to stick or tighten up, loosen it with the reserved water a spoonful at a time until the sauce turns glossy and slips easily between the noodles. Serve it right away or the noodles will soak up the sauce and stick together.
Make Plant-Based: To make this vegan-friendly, swap the milk for your favorite nut milk and use an egg-free pasta. Nothing else needs to change.
Serve This With
You can double the sauce and save half of it to spread on toasted bread, into sandwiches, or as a dip for raw vegetables. As a meal, the pasta wants something bright next to it, and a cherry tomato salad with miso dressing cuts through the richness while adding a beautiful tangy contrast. For something more substantial, miso-marinated chicken thighs make for a great protein to serve with the pasta, or you could do a batch of miso-glazed mushrooms for something plant-based. When I have guests over for a multi-course meal, miso-braised short ribs make a great second course after a small plate of this pasta as a primo piatto.
Ingredients
- 100 grams walnuts
- 3 tablespoons Organic Miso White
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon panko
- 3 grams garlic
- 250 grams dry tagliatelle
Nutrition Facts
Instructions
- Add 100 grams walnuts, 3 tablespoons Organic Miso White, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons milk, 1 tablespoon panko, and 3 grams garlic to a food processor or a beaker for an immersion blender. Blend until smooth.
- Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add 250 grams dry tagliatelle (or your pasta of choice) and cook according to the package directions.
- About 2 minutes before the pasta is done,add 1/2 cup of boiling liquid from the pasta to the walnut pesto and whisk until a smooth sauce forms.
- When the pasta is ready, drain it, reserving additional boiling liquid in a separate bowl.
- Add the pasta to the walnut sauce and toss until evenly coated. If the pasta begins to stick together, add more boiling liquid, a tablespoon at a time. The pasta should be coated in a glossy sauce that slips easily between the noodles.
- Serve immediately.
