White Pesto Mafalde with Ricotta, Sage & Walnut

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Jasmine

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The pasta water trick is something I’ve known about for a while but have never been able to master, however I feel like I’ve finally figured it out! It’s surprisingly easy and this creamy pasta dish is made with just a white ricotta pesto (if you saw my previous pesto post, you’ll know that pesto isn’t just the green stuff but can be just about anything as long as it contains certain core components) and pasta water; no actual cream required…

INGREDIENTS

Pasta:

Dried Mafalde / Mafaldine (or a similar alternative; just make sure you use dried pasta so you create starchy pasta water)

Pesto:

Ricotta

Italian hard cheese (if you don’t mind animal rennet, I’d recommend the nutty flavour of Pecorino, or go for a generic vegetarian alternative)

Garlic (I like to pre-roast mine)

Walnuts (again, roasting releases a different flavour profile that I personally love)

Nutmeg

Olive oil

To serve:

Sage (oven-roasted)

TIPS

There really isn’t a lot to this other than the emulsification method using pasta water. I added a little to my pesto mix to help with creaminess, but then I also added it to my main pasta dish. I’ve realised that this method can be ‘hit and miss’ if you try to do it whilst you’re still cooking the pasta and sauce over heat, so I removed my pan from the heat and gradually added in the pasta water one ladle at a time. This was a really effective method for me in creating that ‘creaminess’ that takes the dish from ‘pesto stuck to pasta’ to an integrated creamy pasta dish.

White Pesto Mafalde with Ricotta, Sage & Walnut

  • Servings: 2-3
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

An autumnal white pesto pasta with no cream

Food processor needed, no advance prep required

Ingredients

  • 250g of dried Mafalde pasta (save the water it’s cooked in)
  • 1/2 a tsp of ground or grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 a cup of walnuts
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 sprig of fresh sage (c.2g)
  • 50g Italian hard cheese (broken into smaller pieces by hand) + extra to serve
  • 1-2 tbsp of olive oil + extra for cooking
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 160C and boil the kettle
  2. Chop the ends off the garlic and wrap in some foil with some salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil, add this to an oven dish with the sprig of sage (drizzle this in olive oil too) and the walnuts to roast for 15 minutes
  3. Bring the water to a rolling boil in a saucepan and salt it, before adding the pasta – cook until just shy of al dente (my packet instructions said 12 minutes, so I cooked for 9-10)
  4. Once the roasted items are ready, add the garlic, ricotta, most of the walnuts (save some for serving) and Italian hard cheese to the food processor, along with c. 1/2 a cup of pasta water and pulse
  5. Add in the olive oil (you might not need the full amount) and blend until smooth, add it to a wide-based pan over a low heat and cook (stirring regularly) for a couple of minutes before adding the pasta and cooking it for a further 3-5 minutes – taste the sauce and season as required (not much salt will be needed as the pasta water and the hard cheese are both salty)
  6. Remove the pan from the heat and add c. 1/2 a cup of pasta water, stirring and tossing with cooking spoons to make the pasta saucy – repeat another 1-2 times until you have a creamy pasta
  7. Serve with the roasted sage leaves, crush over the remaining walnuts, add some extra black pepper and grate over more cheese

Do you use pasta water to create creamy pasta dishes? Let me know if you try this dish! I’m loving it at the moment; it’s so aromatic and feels perfect for autumn.

See this recipe in action over on Instagram:

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