A Perfect Pantry
Orecchiette with Creamy Walnut Sauce
Ahhh, Winter. I love this time of year. I love it for the warming slow-cooked braises and roasts, the zing of citrus, the feeling of hibernating in cosy warmth.
Because I love working with seasonally fresh foods, I enjoy winter’s unique ingredients. Right now, you can get local and fresh nuts of every type.
This recipe is full of flavour but doesn't have the artery-clogging richness that many cream-based sauces have and because it's so filling, you don't need to eat a huge portion to sustain you. In my books, the stodgy rib-sticking food of winter can wait for another day.
Orecchiette with Creamy Walnut Sauce
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
- 350g dried orecchiette or other short fat pasta that will hold a thick and chunky sauce
- 125g fresh walnut halves
- 2 cups coarsely chopped parsley
- 4 tbsp fresh or dried breadcrumbs
- 90g butter, softened
- ½ cup (125ml) olive oil
- ¼ cup (60ml) cream
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
* Nuts turn rancid quickly and sour everything they come into contact with. It's their high oil content that reacts to air that does this. So, buy only what you need for the meal you have in mind and try to buy them from a nut supplier out of a sack rather than a packet off a supermarket shelf.
DIRECTIONS
- Put a large stock pot filled with water on to boil.
- Place walnuts, parsley and breadcrumbs in the bowl of the X-Blade Pro stick blender and process until finely ground. Add butter and oil and blend to form a thick green paste. Season with salt and pepper, then add cream. Blitz for a few seconds more to combine.
- Put the pasta in the pot to cook and cook until it is al dente.
- Drain the cooked pasta and return to the pot to keep warm. Toss through the sauce and serve immediately. Save the cheese on top for another pasta meal.
Recipe created and shared by Sandra Reynolds
Sandra Reynolds has written over 1000 nutritious budget-friendly recipes for her blog The $120 Food Challenge, surviving unemployment payments and Aldi checkout lines along the way and turned personal adversity into a thriving blog.
Her first cookbook, The $120 Food Challengeis published by Penguin Viking and Sandra is now writing her second cookbook. She still shops at Aldi every week.
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11 August 2014
The Kambrook stick blender rocks. I’d make coconut lime icy poles for my daughter, pumpkin soup with crunchy bacon for hubs. For me I’d make a green tabouli salad of pureed broccoli, pistachio nuts, pumpkin seeds and a lime dressing.
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11 August 2014
With this awesome new gadget in my own kitchen, I will go on a puree frenzy for my little one who has just started to eat solids!
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11 August 2014
Will definitely be trying Sandra's delish recipe. Would be so much easier if I won this awesome blender!!!
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11 August 2014
What a fantastic device! I would use it to make nut cheeses and soy milk.
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11 August 2014
Have been looking for a walnut recipe that my children can make (& therefore willingly eat...) and with the x blade pro blender they'd make easy work of it without wrecking the kitchen in the process!
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11 August 2014
While this recipe sounds divine, the first thing I would make with the XBlade Pro Food Preparation System (if I were lucky enough to win) would be my delicious Cheesy Potato, Sweet Potato, Tomato and Zucchini Bake. Slicing each vegetable would be made so easy.
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11 August 2014
I love to chop herbs and nuts and also make soups nice and creamy. Lovely for fruit smoothies too. This would be a wonderful addition to my kitchen and ever so handy
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11 August 2014
For me its about making a real basil pesto which can be used for anything. Bought ones are crap
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11 August 2014
I can make anything and everything with this Kambrook X - blade Pro stick blender. We are just 2 adults in family with a baby, this compact appliance will be perfect in my kitchen for pureeing, chopping, blending and processing foods.
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11 August 2014
My favourite pasta sauce is what I would make with the blender - avocado, lemon juice and a dash of cream with salt and pepper to taste.
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11 August 2014
YUMMMMMM
Made this tonight, very happy family and friends.......thank you 
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11 August 2014
What a great recipe.
My daughters birthday in September, she's having a rough patch and she loves to cook. This would bring her so much joy, I would like to be able to give it to her. -
11 August 2014
I'd love to use this for smooth hearty pumpkin soup.
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11 August 2014
i love to have one close to my 69 birthday nex months
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11 August 2014
My kids love fruit salads but I am such a klutz with a knife and have the scars to prove it... The Kambrook X-Blade Pro Stick Blender with it's fab dicer attachment would mean healthy desserts every night!!!
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11 August 2014
I’d love to make some baby food
for my infant son
but chopping fruits and vegetables
ain’t my idea of fun
Then there’s the problem
Of making it lump-free
A Kambrook X-Blade Blender
Would do all the work for me! -
12 August 2014
Would love a blender.It would be perfect for my kitchen. I could make awesome Fish curries, Chutneys and Dips for my family
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12 August 2014
I'd really love to win this stick blender, lots of yummy food is running through my mind!
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12 August 2014
A powerful blender would be a dream come true. I would make smoothies that are actually smooth- my current blender requires multiple shakes and bashings with a spoon before it yields a lumpy sludge- great start to the day.
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The X-Blade Pro Stick Blender would complement my cooking (or lack thereof) skills beautifully. The first thing I would make is mashed potatoes....without the lumps that I usually have a hard time getting rid of!