Basil is a mere garnish in this nutty, cheesy, peak season pesto sauce.
Ingredients
4 Servings
⅔
2
2
6
2
1
¼
½
1
12
½
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°. Toast walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until slightly darkened, 8–10 minutes. Let cool.
Step 2
Heat broiler. Toss tomatoes with 2 Tbsp. oil on a rimmed baking sheet; season with salt. Broil, tossing once, until tomatoes are blistered and have released some of their liquid, 5–7 minutes. Let cool.
Step 3
Pulse anchovies, garlic, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, and ½ oz. Parmesan in a food processor until finely ground. Add walnuts and half of tomatoes, then, with motor running, stream in ⅓ cup oil; process just until combined. Season with salt. Transfer pesto to a large bowl and stir in black pepper.
Step 4
Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain, reserving ½ cup pasta cooking liquid.
Step 5
Transfer pasta to bowl with pesto and add a splash of pasta cooking liquid. Toss, adding more cooking liquid as needed, until sauce coats pasta. Add basil and remaining tomatoes.
Step 6
Divide among bowls; top with more Parmesan and black pepper and drizzle with oil.
Step 7
Do Ahead: Pesto can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.
Nutrition Per Serving
How would you rate Spaghetti With Tomato and Walnut Pesto?
Leave a Review
Reviews (28)
Back to TopFantastic
Jess
Australia
3/15/2023
Amazing and so easy. I use the vegetarian substitution of "1 tablespoon of capers, 1/2 tablespoon of miso, and a dash of soy sauce for the anchovies" provided by anon, but otherwise make no changes. I like to serve with sauteed veggies on top, like zucchini, bell peppers, and kale. It's very filling and makes a ton, you'll have at least 3 more meals' worth of leftovers!
Moro
Albuquerque, NM
2/21/2022
This was a yummy recipe. The toasted walnuts make it creamy and the red pepper and lemon zest give the sauce some complexity. I actually liked the sauce re-heated the next day better than when it was freshly served - something about letting sauces like this rest and re-heating them just brings out all the flavors. I will make this again.
Olivia
New York, NY
1/8/2022
This is great! To make it vegetarian, I sub in 1 tablespoon of capers, 1/2 tablespoon of miso, and a dash of soy sauce for the anchovies.
anon
12/15/2021
I love this recipe so much! I make a little more pasta than called for as there is quite a bit of sauce.
Marisa
Montreal
7/29/2021
Made the recipe as written. Loved it! Super creamy and savory. We prepped the pesto in advance to cut down on mealtime work, and it worked wonderfully!
Anonymous
Oxford, MS
12/28/2020
A delicious creamy without-the-cream pasta recipe! I changed it slightly and added more veggies by braising red onion, a zucchini, capsicum and half the cherry tomatoes, then added a bunch of baby spinach at the end. I also added a small amount of capsicum to the pesto and didn’t use a broiler but instead a frypan. I think because there was more liquid from the tomatoes I didn’t need to add as much olive oil too.
Anonymous
Australia
1/20/2020
I thought this recipe needed a little something else. I already tend to err on the side of extra for ingredients (eg used a little more tomatoes) but it wasn’t until I served the pasta with a bunch more Parmesan and squeezed the juice of the lemon over it that I actually liked the flavour. Was fairly alright in the end and pretty easy but for the amount of steps involved I probably wouldn’t make again !
soyabeanbb
Australia
12/16/2019
Super easy and delicious! Made it with almonds as I had those lying around and I couldn't stop eating the sauce.
Anonymous
Amsterdam
11/7/2018
Delicious!
Anonymous
Connecticut
8/17/2018