Monday, May 10, 2010

Fusilli with Walnuts and Garlic Sauce - Blue Monday




Oregon Coast

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...When a chef with the stature of Mario Batali embraces a trend you know it has become mainstream. Last week he announced his decision to observe Meatless Monday in all of his 14 restaurants. He plans to have at least two meatless entrees on his menus every Monday. You can read more about his decision here. I am also embracing the trend and will try to prepare a meatless meal each week. That may be easier said than done. Like many of you, I am married to a committed carnivore who will not easily adapt to the notion. We are going to try anyway. I've started to round up recipes that are new and interesting, but meatless. Good recipes will go a long way to make the transition painless. So will ear plugs. The first of the recipes is an old one I've resurrected from Patricia Wells' book, Trattoria. It's easy to make, uses a handful of readily available ingredients and is absolutely delicious if it is served hot. Garlic lovers should be cautious and use no more than is called for in the recipe. Excess garlic will overpower the subtle flavor of the walnuts and the dish will lose it clean flavor. Experience is a great teacher. The recipe also calls for heavy cream. You can substitute a lower fat alternative, but go no further back than whole milk. If you serve this as an entree, you'll also want to serve a large salad and a crusty peasant bread. I went with an arugula and orange salad that nicely balanced the creamy walnut sauce that dressed the pasta. Here's the recipe for a simple but tasty meatless pasta.

Fusilli with Walnut and Garlic Sauce
...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, courtesy of Patrica Well Wells

Ingredients:

2 large cloves garlic, minced
Kosher salt
1 cup toasted walnut halves
1 cup heavy cream
12-ounces dried fusilli
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Coarsely cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:

1) Place garlic, a pinch of salt and walnuts in bowl of a food processor. Process until nuts are coarsely ground. Add cream and process to form a fairly smooth sauce with flecks of walnuts in it. Add salt and pepper to taste.
2) Bring 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil. Add 3 tablespoons of salt and fusilli. Cook until pasta is tender but firm to the bite.
3) While pasta cooks, heat sauce in a microwave or stovetop until warm.
4) Drain pasta. Transfer to a serving bowl and toss to combine. Add cheese and again toss to combine. Add salt ans pepper to taste. Serve Immediately. Yield: 4 -5 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Pasta Puttanesca - One Perfect Bite
Straw and Hay - One Perfect Bite
Capellini Capricciosi - One Perfect Bite

This post is being linked to:
Smiling Sally - Blue Monday

Meatless Monday at My Sweet and Savory

65 comments :

Susi's Kochen und Backen said...

This sounds delicious! If all of your meatless Monday recipes are like that I will jump on the band wagon as well. Can't wait to try this one :o)

Rue said...

Love this "Meatless Monday" idea. And I'm always up for garlic sauce!

LV said...

A perfect blue Monday with a perfectly delicious meal. Really sounds great.

Lady Patchy said...

food looks delicious and the coast is so lovely.

Unknown said...

O lovely! That sauce looks so easy and delicious!

Deb in Hawaii said...

This looks delicious! I have really been enjoying walnuts more and more lately and I love to do veggie days or veggie meals each week--good for people and the planet. ;-)

Ciao Chow Linda said...

I can just imagine the yummy taste of this dish. Wish my fork could go through the screen.

Diane said...

So simple and yummy, we eat a lot of pasta so this one is a must. Diane

Ana Powell said...

Delicious "Blue Monday" dish.
Awesome sauce x

Alessandra said...

I love walnut sauce for pasta. And I am meatless every Monday (and every other day, as a matter of fact, hehehe). I heard that many US restaurants are proposing a meatless Monday, to save resources. What a great idea :-)

Sushma Mallya said...

Rich & creamy fusilli..nice and delicious..have a great week mary..

MaryMoh said...

Oh no...I have just used up my double cream to make chocolate swiss roll :( Otherwise I can make this for lunch. The walnut sauce sounds very delicious. Thank for sharing.

Carol at Serendipity said...

Mary,

This sounds very good. I like the idea of meatless Monday. Now if I could just get my husband to go along with this....

Carol

Mary said...

..."So will ear plugs" LOL! Sounds like a wonderful meal, good luck with your carnivore :-)

Daniela said...

The photo is beautiful, and that pasta looks delicious :)

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

I am with your carnivorous husband on the whole no meat thing... But a terrific side dish!

Good luck with this. Bottom line, he will eat what is cooked

Cherine said...

This looks so good!

pam said...

I was just thinking that I was going to eat meatless once a week. And since I love a catchy phrase "Meatless Mondays" sounds good to me!

Deana Sidney said...

I just found a stash of walnuts... recipe sounds great... maybe we should all blog meatless mondays... this is a delicious way to start.. how bad can walnuts and cream be for a carnivore.. you have one lucky husband!!

Becky K. said...

I have two men who would not know what to do without meat. My husband and oldest son...but who knows...maybe they could learn.

Becky K.

tasteofbeirut said...

Mary
This pasta dish sounds lovely; walnuts and cheese make a great combo;
So Mario Batali is going vegan on Mondays? Well good for him; I don't find it at all hard to avoid meat, lebanese cuisine is replete with vegan recipes!

gengen said...

It is sounds yummy. Happy blue Monday.

SmilingSally said...

Ah, how I'd love to visit that spot in Oregon! I love the blues. Happy Blue Monday, Mary.

Italians Do Eat Better said...

Che bel piatto di fusilli! Poi con la salsa di noci e aglio è veramente originale. Bravissima! Buona giornata :-)

Kristen said...

This sounds delicious, but like you, I'd need ear plugs to serve this to my meat loving husband. He'd wonder where the chicken was hiding.

Joe Ambrosino said...

As a "meatless 4 nights a week" cook, I appreciate your offerings Mary. This is an interesting recipe. My roots are southern Italian, so I'm not so well versed in cream sauces. BTW, I tried your strawberry yogurt pie. It was great. Thanks for the suggestion.

Rachana said...

This sounds delicious! Have a great week Mary!

Jaynie said...

I never thought my husband would go for meatless meals either. But since I started meatless meals a few times a week about a month ago, he hasn't complained. This dish sounds delicious.

Cathy said...

Simple and flavor packed. This looks so delicious, Mary. I'm all for a meatless day or two each week.

Valérie said...

What a lovely pasta dish! And wow, Meatless Mondays is really catching on! I don't adhere to it myself, but I find that I usually have at least one or two meat-free days a week as it is. I think I actually accidentally went meatless for a whole week once: it wasn't on purpose, I just happened to choose meatless recipes. I was kind of craving steak after that, though!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I usually have meatless meals at least once a week so I could make a more conscious decision and go for a Monday. Your fuscilli dish looks delicious Mary.

Rachel Cotterill said...

As a vegetarian, if this means more veggie ideas on your blog, I'll be very happy ;)

Jody said...

Followed you here from a message you left on my blog. I love this place! Beautiful photos and amazing recipes. I look forward to visiting often.

Allie and Pattie said...

Oh Mary, this pasta is rght up my alley. Now to convince my Irish meat-and-potatoes husband!
xoxo Pattie

Karen said...

I could do meatless Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but the stink coming from across the table wouldn't be worth it. LOL This pasta sounds really good!

From the Kitchen said...

Thanks Mary, I need more recipes like this. I, too, am trying to reduce our consumption of meat. I do have a number of meatless dishes that are quite good. One of them is a tweaked macaroni and cheese (pasta quatro fromage). Growing up in the south, macaroni and cheese was (still is in many places) considered a side dish. I'm thinking "meatless Monday" would be a good choice for us.

Best,
Bonnie

Kim said...

Going meatless once a week is a fabulous idea and I would love to do it. Like you, I am married to a carnivore who thinks that every meal must contain a huge portion of meat. This pasta sounds fantastic!

Maria said...

Great recipe for Meatless Monday!

natalia said...

Ciao Mary ! Thank you so much for your nice comment !! Your site is great as your view !! Great pasta too !!

Joanna said...

This looks fabulous! I do a meatless meal at least twice a week, and have found that a few great vegetarian cookbooks help keep me motivated. Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian is my current favorite. Thanks, also, for visiting my blog!

Barbara said...

This is truly a perfect pasta recipe. I love the walnut/garlic sauce...nice and thick and it will stick in the fusilli curves too!

I do like fish and eat that 5 days a week AND then order it when I go out. Chicken or turkey is another alternate. So why not pasta on the last day? Super idea!

Arlette said...

Hello my friend, I hope you had a nice mother's day .
This is a wonderful sauce I always make but I serve it with linguini instead.
Eating meatless food, is healthy and tasty and I truely enjoy eating them. The Lebanese Cuisine full of wonderful meatless meals which we all love and enjoy eating.
I am married to a meat and potato guy but he is changing..

one word to remember our body needs 30 days to get rid of big meat meal, so imagine how much time we need for cleansing.

Juliana said...

Mary, this is something that I can try to make tonight...I have all the ingredients...sounds like a plan :-)

Ren- Lady Of The Arts said...

I just bought a bag of walnuts!
I usually add them to my pesto but have never done a cream sauce.
Thanks for sharing-
LOVE the line 'so will ear plugs' made me laugh out loud!

Federica Simoni said...

questi fusilli sono eccezionali!!! complimenti!! buona settimana!! ciao!

Jen_from_NJ said...

I try to make at least one meatless meal per week. My husband has adapted well to it. Beans or nuts are always good choices. Your pasta looks fantastic! Perfect meatless Monday dish!

Jacalyn @ rmebathproducts.com said...

Great recipe and I do love the meatless! If you have a moment please stop by my blog to see my new feature, Beautiful Blogging!

Have a great week!

Jacalyn

Ann said...

Sounds like a great recipe. I always go meatless so this one is perfect for my collection. Walnuts are good for us all as well as garlic. Hmmm....getting hungry just thinking of it.
Fondly,
Ann
@
The Tattered Tassel

The Blonde Duck said...

I've been craving mac and cheese all day. This isn't helping.

hobby baker Kelly said...

Oh I could definitely go for something nice, simple and rich like that right about now. :)

Marice said...

yum yum yum! and i love that shot of coast! :)

u may view mine here

Shy said...

Hi Ms Mary,

You always have tasty and sumptious food with recipe bonus in your blog. Happy Blue Monday.

xoxo
Shy

DailyChef said...

this looks awesome. I was hoping for a vegetarian meal tonight, and I think I just found it!

Baking is my Zen...sweet nibbles for the soul said...

Simple and delish!

I can eat pasta every night!

Carmen

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

I want to write about Mario Batalli, next week when I post the next Meatless Mondays but since you have done such a great job, could I ask you to please post this great recipe on my blog, Meatless Mondays. Thanks for considering it.

http://sweetsav.blogspot.com/2010/05/meatless-mondays-unlimited-choices.html

Louis la Vache said...

WOW! This is really excellent!

Krista said...

How wonderful! I can just imagine how delicious this was and I love the idea of the salad alongside.

As much meat as we eat, I try to plan for 1 meatless meal per week as well. Great idea. I look forward seeing more of your meatless recipe as inspiration for my own menus.

A 2 Z said...

Hi Mary,

I'm a new follower. I'm also married to a carnivore. I do cook pasta dishes but within a few hours he is back in the fridge because in his mind he did not have a complete meal because it was meatless. I will come back to check your new meatless recipes. Thanks for sharing! Happy Blue Monday!

Anonymous said...

mmmmm, this one is a keeper, too! How do you get any cooking done with that view? Just beautiful!
...Karen

Lucia said...

Wow I just visited your blog and read the comment about meatless Mondays. I just wrote that in my blog entry for yesterday! Enjoyed your blog and will back to visit often, I will be following you! Thank you for your kind remarks on my blog.
I would love to do more meatless days but the spouse does need meat every now and then.

oneordinaryday said...

Oh, this is such a delicious meal! Thank you for sharing a wonderful recipe.

Julie said...

We try and eat meatless at least one day a week. Not always Monday's :). My husband is one of those who doesn't think it's a meal unless it has meat. Often I will make something and he will say, this would be so good with some type of meat. He's slowly getting used to it.

I will have to give this one a try. Garlic sauce sounds delicious.

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

You really helped me by posting this info on Mario Batalli at My Meatless Mondays.

I have not gotten to this recipe yet but this is one that I know will work, in our family. I will let you know how it goes over.

We love nuts added to almost anything so this has everything going for it.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this great recipe! My boyfriend and I whipped this up in about 20 mins after returning from grocery shopping late tonight, and we loved it!

Mary Bergfeld said...

Anon., Thank you for letting me know. I really like this recipe and am so glad you enjoyed it as well. I hope you have a wonderful evening. Blessings...Mary

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