Wintertime Pasta with Walnuts for a Healthy New Year

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Just to keep you going till January 1st, here’s a tasty wintertime pasta from the great city of Napoli, a quick and easy dish for a midnight feast to toast the new year. Pair it with a wine from the region, a hefty red Aglianico from Mastroberardino, or a lighter white Greco di Tufo from Feudi di San Gregorio, and you’ll be in full Neapolitan festive mode, possibly even breaking into a spontaneous chorus of Santa Lucia as you wish your guests glittering seas (mare lucica), gentle waves (placida è l’onda), and prosperous breezes (prospero il vento) for the new year.

Sorrento walnuts in a Neapolitan market

In Napoli they call this spaghett’ u natalina (that’s as close as I can get to the dialect name). It means literally Christmas spaghetti but I was assured, during the Christmas that I spent in the city some years ago, that it’s not necessarily for Christmas alone. In fact, it’s a celebration of walnuts, especially the celebrated walnuts from the Sorrento peninsula that forms the southern arc of the Bay of Naples. These walnuts, which have their own Slow Food presidium, are cherished for their sweet flavor and crisp but creamy texture.

You probably won’t be able to source Sorrento walnuts but do use the finest quality you can find. Best would be whole nuts in their shells but few are the cooks these days who are willing to put in the time it takes to crack the shells and pick out the insides. Walnuts, once the shell is removed, look very much like brains which is why, according to the ancient Doctrine of Signatures, they’re said to be brain food. But there’s some truth in that—walnuts are actually a valuable source of Omega 3 fatty acids, along with anti-inflammatory polyphenols and antioxidants. Call that brain food and you won’t be far off.

walnuts and apples in a Roman market

The other brain food in this delightful preparation comes from the anchovies. As a fatty fish, like salmon, like mackerel, they are also rich in those incredibly valuable Omega 3’s. I know, I know, anchovies, eeeuww! But give me a break, please, and try them in this dish. True food lovers, dare I say, true foodies, adore anchovies and not just because they’re health food. It’s the umami boost they give to any dish in which they are present. Fine chefs know this and know too that many of our favorite dishes actually have a couple of anchovy fillets crushed into the basic sauce for that very reason.

If you have ichthyophobes (fish haters) among your guests, make a separate pasta al pomodoro for them. In the fanciest restaurants, chefs are often willing to make a simple tomato pasta for the kids at the table, so why not for the picky eaters at your own?

Frankly, I think this dish would be just sort of blah without the anchovies. You may use either fully salted ones, which should be carefully rinsed under the tap to rid them of surface salt, or oil-packed anchovies which were salted in another life and then, once they were fully cured, packed in oil. What you do not want are so called white anchovies, also known by their Spanish name boquerones. Delicious as they are, they are lightly pickled not salt-cured and don’t have the slightly fermented flavor that salt-cured anchovies boast. But, I repeat, be sure to rinse the salt-cured ones (not the oil-cured ones) because the dish might be otherwise unbearably salty.

Note that some versions of spaghett’ u natalina have a handful of pine nuts and a handful of sultana raisins added to the mix.

This will make enough for 4 people if served as a main course, 6 if served as a primo before a more important secondo, or main course.

• 1¼ cups (about 125 g) shelled walnuts, the fresher the better

• About 1 pound (500 grams) spaghetti, linguine, or other long, skinny pasta

• ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon (about 120 ml) extra-virgin olive oil

• 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 10 anchovy fillets, rinsed if necessary, coarsely chopped

• Sea salt, if necessary

• 1 cup (handful, about 60 g) minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

• ½ cup (about 70 grams) unflavored bread crumbs

• If you wish, a small handful each of pine nuts and sultana raisins

Set the oven on 350ºF. (180ºC.)

Spread the walnuts out on a cookie sheet and toast in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until they begin to release their fragrance. It’s okay if they turn a little golden, but don’t let them get deep brown. Remove from the oven, and when the nuts are cool, chop them coarsely and set aside.

When you’re ready to cook, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add a small handful of salt and then the pasta and start to cook, following package directions for timing but be prepared to take it off and drain it while it’s just barely al dente.

(If you want to add sultana raisins, set them in a small bowl of very warm water to plump, while you prepare the rest of the sauce.)

As the water is heating and then the pasta is cooking, make the sauce: Over low heat, combine the half-cup of oil and the garlic in a saucepan large enough to hold all the cooked pasta. Cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the garlic starts to soften. Add the anchovies and continue cooking, using a fork to mash the anchovies into the oil. Stir in the chopped walnuts and cook for about 1 minute.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, toast the bread crumbs in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, tossing and stirring to brown and crisp them. (If you’re using pine nuts, add them to the bread crumbs so they get lightly toasted.)

When the pasta is almost al dente, remove about ¾ cup pasta water and add to the walnut-anchovy sauce. Let it simmer while you drain the pasta, then add the pasta directly to the walnut sauce, turning to coat it well with the sauce as it finishes its last minute or so of cooking. Taste and add salt if necessary (there may be sufficient salt from the anchovies). If using sultanas, drain and stir them into the sauce.

Turn onto a warm serving bowl, garnish with the minced parsley and toasted bread crumbs (plus pine nuts, if using), and serve immediately.