Simple yet luxurious, this creamy Ligurian sauce makes good use of walnuts, which are grown throughout the Italian countryside. A variant of pesto, it requires few ingredients — walnuts, milk, bread, garlic, cheese and oil — and can be prepared while the pasta cooks. Many methods call for blanching walnuts, some roast the nuts and others don’t call for either (there are also versions that add pine nuts). Here, a quick blanch softens the nuts and gets rid of any bitterness, resulting in a more buttery and creamier sauce. Traditionally paired with “pansotti” (a greens and herb-filled ravioli ), the nutty sauce works well with trofie and all sorts of pasta shapes. Fresh woodsy marjoram is a classic finishing herb for this sauce, but its slightly piney bitterness can be strong; you could try chopped parsley for a lighter alternative.
