This traditional Ligurian sauce uses up stale bread, requires no special ingredients, and pretty much zero effort.
Ingredients:
1.5 cups walnuts
1 1/4 cup milk
1 thick slice stale bread, such as ciabatta, or a chunk of baguette
1 clove garlic
salt and fresh black pepper, to taste
1 box rye trumpets
1.5 cups frozen peas (optional)
1 cup pasta cooking water
1 t vinegar
5 -6 T olive oil
1/5 cup grated gouda or other sharp, salty cheese
Turn your oven on to 400 and scatter the walnuts on a baking tray; place them in the oven while it warms and you carry on with the recipe.
Cut your bread into large chunks, place in a bowl, and cover with 1 cup of the milk.
Using a food processor is the easiest way to whizz this sauce up, but feel free to go the traditional route with a mortar and pestle.
While the bread soaks and the walnuts toast, put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta; you can turn off your oven after about 5 minutes.
Once the bread is completely sodden, squeeze it out over the bowl (keeping the milk), and add to your food processor.
Add garlic, 1 t of salt, vinegar, and the toasted walnuts and pulse until uniformly-sized pebbles are formed.
Stream in the olive oil, as you cotinue to process, until a thick paste is formed.
By now your pasta is cooking; reserve a cup of that good starchy water.
Add the peas to the pasta when you are a minute or two from al dente.
Put the walnut and bread paste into a warm pan on the stove, and add the milk from the bread bowl to the pan, stirring to form a thick paste.
Add the rest of the milk, mix, and then start to add pasta water, as needed, to form a thick sauce.
Taste, and season with more salt and plenty of black pepper.
Drain your pasta, and hold on to that water because you may need more.
Gently mix the pasta and peas into your sauce, adding more pasta water if needed; you want a silky sauce.
Test for seasoning, stir through some grated gouda, and serve with a good, vinegery salad.
