Spaghetti with walnuts is a flavorful first course made with just a few simple ingredients. It’s a classic garlic, oil, and chili pasta enriched with chopped walnuts adding a crunchy touch and a unique aroma to the pasta! A dish from the Neapolitan peasant tradition that was once prepared during the Christmas holidays, particularly for Christmas Eve.
The preparation of this first course is very simple: while the pasta cooks, we sauté garlic with chili and anchovies if used. We add chopped walnuts and incorporate the pasta, cooked al dente. Quickly toss all the ingredients, adding some cooking water to create a creamy sauce, and serve the spaghetti with walnuts hot, garnished with some reserved walnuts.
This dish is proof that with very few ingredients and in less than 10 minutes, we can create a flavorful first course. Perfect when short on time or simply craving a creamy and crunchy garlic, oil, and chili pasta, these delicious spaghetti with walnuts are a must-try.
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Economical
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients for Preparing Spaghetti with Walnuts
- 10.5 oz spaghetti
- 5.3 oz walnuts
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 chili pepper
- 2 fillets anchovies in oil
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
Tools for Preparing Spaghetti with Walnuts
- 1 Pan
- 1 Pot
- 2 Stove
Steps to Prepare Spaghetti with Walnuts
We begin preparing the spaghetti with walnuts, garlic, oil, and chili pepper starting from the sauce: pour abundant oil in a pan and add chopped garlic, chili pepper, and some anchovy fillets if using.
When the garlic begins to sizzle and the anchovies have melted, add the chopped walnuts, setting some aside for plate decoration.
Meanwhile, as the sauce cooks, bring plenty of water to a boil and cook the pasta. Drain it al dente directly into the sauce pan, tossing it and adding pasta water to finish cooking and combine all ingredients well.
Serve the hot spaghetti with walnuts, garnishing each plate with the reserved walnuts.
Simo and Cicci Recommend
You can store the spaghetti in the fridge, tightly closed in an airtight container for a few days.
You can add fresh chopped parsley or basil if you like.
For a vegetarian version, just omit the anchovies in oil.
For a gluten-free version, use gluten-free pasta.
If you don’t like garlic, leave it whole so you can easily remove it from the sauce once it has flavored the oil.
