I spent the whole weekend organizing and cleaning my kitchen. I cannot begin to tell you how good it felt to make breakfast in there this morning. It was like I have a brand new kitchen.
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The majority of the organizing was in my pantry. Since we live on an island, I usually stock up on items that are hard to find like gluten-free flour, almond flour, dried fruit, kalamata olives, tahini, etc. As I was cleaning, I realized how much food I accumulated and forgot about in the last couple of years. Unfortunately, some items were expired and I had to throw them away. I felt really bad for doing that and decided, from now on, I would do monthly inventories at the beginning of every month.
One item that I totally forgot about and was very happy to see was a jar of sun-dried tomatoes I bought from a very old lady in a small farm, when we were in Seattle last year. I remember buying it with the intention of using it in a pasta sauce, as I love the sweet and sour flavors that it adds to the dish.
There was no expiration date on it. I was a little worried as I was opening the jar thinking that there might have been a science experiment happening in it. Luckily, it was in good shape.
I knew that I should not wait any longer and use it right away. That is when I decided to make this pasta dish. I have had this idea of creating a white pasta sauce with walnuts, but thought that it would be somewhat heavy just by itself. I thought the sweet and sour taste of sun-dried tomatoes would balance all the flavors for the perfect pasta dish.
And, I was right. At least, my husband and I thought so.
After plating it, I sprinkled it with chopped fresh parsley and grated Parmesan cheese. It tasted heavenly. I served it with a simple green salad and a glass of Chardonnay for dinner.
If you are looking for a luxurious pasta dish for your Meatless Monday menu, you should try making this Linguine with Walnut Béchamel Sauce and Sun-Dried Tomatoes recipe. You will not be disappointed.
Linguine with Walnut Béchamel Sauce and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
- 2 small shallots, minced
- 3 cloves of garlic, pressed through a garlic press or minced
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 2 tablespoon fresh Italian parsley, chopped
- 1 packet of dry Linguine
- 1 small jar of Sun-Dried Tomatoes, drained and chopped
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- To make the Béchamel Sauce: Place the milk, walnuts, shallots, and garlic in a small saucepan in medium heat. Bring it to a boil. After it comes to a boil, turn down the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
- In another large pan, melt the butter in medium heat. Add flour and whisk for 2-3 minutes, until they are combined and flour is cooked. Slowly whisk in the milk and walnut sauce. Season it with salt and pepper. Let it come to a boil and turn down the heat to low. Simmer it for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently. It will get slightly thicker. At the very last minute, add a pinch of nutmeg and stir to combine.
- In the mean time, cook linguine according to the package instructions.
- Place the cooked linguine in the béchamel sauce and stir to ensure that the pasta is totally coated with the sauce. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes.
- When ready to serve, individually plate the pasta on a large plate, sprinkle it with parsley and Parmesan cheese.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The Walnut Béchamel Sauce part of this recipe is adapted with changes from Deborah Madison’s Cookbook Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
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?how much of the three cups milk go into the walnut sauce?
Hi David,
All of the milk gets heated with the other ingredients. As it simmers the flavors of shallots, walnuts, and garlic get infused into the milk enriching the sauce.
I hope this helps. Please do not hesitate to reach out if I can answer any other questions.
My Mom has cans in her pantry from 1954. Oh, well, you have to start somewhere. Say hello to Dwight for me. He’s the best!!
Hi Duane,
It is so nice to hear from you.
Wowwww 1954!! I thought I was the worst with a can of tomatoes from 2011…
Anyhow thank you for stopping by. I will let Dwight know you said hi!…
And yes, he really is the BEST!
Cheers!
Ice
This looks so delicious – can’t wait to test out this recipe in my own kitchen!
Two weeks ago, I spend 7 hours cleaning and reorganizing my pantry. As a home-canner, I had a few hundred jars of pickles, jellies and jams; several of which were too old. I eliminated about half of them and discarded several other out-dated items. (Our chickens had a feast that day!) It is so nice to walk into the pantry now and know exactly what’s in there and where it is located! We, too, live away from town and stock up on food. One surprise was discovering that we had over 7 cases of wine; two of which were unlabeled. I guess that is a symptom of living in wine country and having lots of friends that make their own wine!
I’ve printed your pasta recipe with the walnuts and dried tomatoes…will try it soon. Thanks!
Hi Nancy,
Cleaning my pantry was the best thing I did. Though I found some surprise items, it wasn’t like I found a case of wine.. I wish!! 🙂
I hope you will like this recipe.
It is so creamy..
Thanks for stopping by!
Cheeers..
Ice
I desperately need to sort out my kitchen… goodness knows what the sell by dates will be on some of those jars and packets, eesh! Anyway, I really love the sound of this – very flavourful. And I love béchamel sauce…
Thank you my friend!
Kitchen cleaning is like soul cleaning.. If you know what I mean?!!?! 🙂