Walnut and Sage Pesto Brown Butter Pasta
By: The Duo Dishes
Published: Monday, December 7, 2009 - 10:15pm

Ingredients




1/2 pound rigatoni, cooked
1/2 bunch fresh sage leaves
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3 ounces fresh parmesan
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Dash allspice

Kosher salt

Preparation

1 Put garlic, walnuts and parmesan into a food processor and blend until crumbly. Add sage, lemon juice and a dash of allspice. Blend until smooth. Drizzle in olive oil until smooth, then salt to taste and set aside. 2 Drop butter into a large, deep pan over medium high heat and swirl until melted. Cook until brown, bubbly and butter emits a slightly nutty scent, approximately 3-5 minutes. 3 Add pasta and toss or stir until coated. Scrape pesto into the pan with the pasta and toss to coat. Cook until heated through, approximately 2-4 minutes. Salt to taste.

About


One of the favorite pestos we’ve made included mint and parsley. It was bright, light and fresh.  Really nice for the spring or summer. This pesto is deeper, with earthy undertones from the sage and walnuts rolled together with nutty browned butter.  It is an easy fix for these chilly winter nights. And a pesto doesn’t have to drape pasta at the end of the day. You could drop a bit over chicken or fish, toss it in a grilled vegetable salad, mix it into couscous or spread it over crostini. The variations are endless and so are the applications.