Noodles with Ricotta & Walnuts

This vegetarian pasta comes together in the time it takes to boil the noodles. Ricotta cheese, soft butter, walnut oil, chopped walnuts, and grated Parmesan get mixed into a rough, rustic sauce that’s barely heated through before the hot pasta goes in and brings it all together.

The walnut oil is the ingredient that ties everything together. It intensifies the walnut flavor so you taste it in every bite, not just when you crunch into a nut piece. Combined with the butter and ricotta, it creates a creamy, nutty sauce that coats whole wheat noodles especially well since the rough surface of whole wheat pasta grabs and holds sauces better than smooth white pasta.

Keep the ricotta at room temperature before mixing. Cold ricotta seizes up when it hits the warm pan, leaving you with lumps instead of a smooth, unified sauce. Thinning with half-and-half or pasta water loosens everything to the right consistency, and fresh chives and chervil add a delicate herbal note.

Pro Tips

• Warm the sauce gently over low heat. High heat will make the ricotta grainy. You just want it warm enough to coat the pasta, not bubbling.
• Heat the serving bowl. A cold bowl drops the temperature fast and the sauce thickens before anyone takes a bite. Run it under hot water or warm it in the oven.
• Finish with plenty of black pepper. This dish relies on the pepper-walnut-Parmesan combination. Be generous.

Variations

• Brown butter version: Brown the butter in the skillet until nutty and amber before adding the other sauce ingredients for deeper, toastier flavor.
• Add greens: Toss in a handful of baby spinach or arugula with the hot pasta. It wilts into the sauce and adds color.