Pasta with creamy walnut pesto
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Pasta with creamy walnut pesto

By Ursula Ferrigno

This unusual pesto is also wonderful
with potato gnocchi, on crostini, in panini, or
stirred into risotto at the end

  • Prep:15 mins
    Cook:12 mins
  • Serves 4
  • Easy

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 805
  • fat 47g
  • saturates 15g
  • carbs 77g
  • sugars 3g
  • fibre 4g
  • protein 23g
  • salt 0.48g

Ingredients

  • 400g pasta (I used orecchiette)
  • 175g walnut halves or pieces
  • 1 garlic clove
  • handful fresh basil, leaves roughly torn, plus extra to serve (optional)
  • 100g parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), freshly grated, plus extra to serve (optional)
  • 50g butter
  • 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 50ml double cream

Method

  1. Boil the pasta. Meanwhile, put the walnuts and garlic in a food processor and whizz until finely chopped. Add the basil, cheese, butter and oil and pulse a few more times. Season.

  2. Pour the cream into a pan and warm through. Add two-thirds of the pesto, then gently heat to loosen it. When the pasta is ready, drain, reserving 2 tbsp of the cooking water, then mix both with the sauce. Serve immediately, sprinkled with the extra Parmesan and basil, if using. The leftover pesto will keep in the fridge for up to a week, or frozen for up to a month.

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