Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for walnut pasta with oregano

From theguardian.com

Walnuts get a starring role in this pasta dish with a (sort of) bread sauce

The walnut is a nut I regularly enjoy, but until now I’d never used it in a meal as a hero ingredient. Then I read about Ligurian salsa di noci and it caught my attention because it sounded like a garlicky, walnutty bread sauce. Now, I really love bread sauce, and ever since I made Delia’s circa 1999, I’ve been wondering how I could eat more of it with my main meals. Without wanting to offend the Italians, or the Brits, this is not bread sauce: it is silkier and nuttier, and it is beautiful mixed with twisted trofie pasta and topped with peppery and pungent fresh oregano.

Walnut and bread sauce pasta

Photograph: Louise Hagger/The Guardian. Food styling: Emily Kydd. Prop styling: Jennifer Kay. Food Styling Assistant: Eden Owen-Jones.

You’ll need a food processor and fresh oregano, which isn’t always easy to find – if you can’t find it, sub in chopped parsley.

Prep 5 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 4

50g ciabatta, or other good white bread
100ml whole oat milk
150g shelled walnut halves
150ml olive oil, plus extra to finish
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
15g nutritional yeast
1½ tsp fine sea salt, plus extra for the pasta water
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Roughly grated zest of 1 lemon, plus 1 tbsp lemon juice
300g trofie, or similar pasta
10g fresh oregano, leaves picked and chopped

Tear up the bread, put it in a small bowl, pour over the oat milk and leave to soak for 10 minutes. Transfer the bread mix to a food processor, add the walnuts, oil, garlic, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and lemon zest and juice, then blend to a mostly smooth sauce studded with a few small, crunchy, nutty bits for good measure.

Cook the pasta in boiling, well-salted water (I used two teaspoons of salt for two litres of water) according to the packet instructions, or until al dente. Just before the pasta has finished cooking, scoop out a mug of the starchy cooking water and put to one side. Drain the pasta well.

Put the pasta back in the empty pan on a low heat, then add the walnut and bread sauce and 100ml (about seven tablespoons) of the reserved cooking water. Toss for a few minutes, until the sauce turns creamy and coats the pasta.

Stir in the oregano, then distribute between plates or shallow bowls, and serve topped with a drizzle more olive oil, if you wish.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/apr/13/walnut-pasta-oregano-vegan-recipe-meera-sodha