A while ago I came across a series of videos on Jamie Oliver’s Youtube Channel featuring the Chiappa Sisters known for their super – quick pasta sauces. Having watched tons of Italian videos, I was automatically trained to associate Italian chefs/cooks with a very noticeable hint of the Italian accent. And this is where I made the biggest mistake of assuming the Chiappas sounded, looked and cooked more Welsh than Italian. Boy was I wrong! Jamie, you’re right. These girls can cook and with a strong punch of flavor.
With a gorgeous herb garden at home that was longing to be used, I was waiting for the perfect recipe to do justice to these beautiful herbs. That’s when I bumped in again at the Chiappa pages on Youtube and stumbled upon this refreshingly easy and unimaginably delicious Sage Walnut Pesto sauce. The minute I read the word “Sage”, I was intrigued. I had to watch the video. At the end of it, I realized this was not only super quick to put together. It was also the kind of recipe that did pure justice to ingredients without butchering the original flavor too much.
A hop, skip and jump later, I was in my kitchen with a handful of fresh Sage ready to begin.
The Recipe (Serves 3-4)
Ingredients
Sage – a handful
Walnuts – a handful
Garlic – 1 clove
Lemon juice – 1 lemon
Olive oil – about 5 tbsps or until it forms a creamy glistening mess
Parmigiano Reggiano (please. no plastic parmesan that comes in a green bottle) – about 1/2 cup; 1 heaped tbsp reserved for garnish
Sea salt – according to taste
Method
- Blitz sage, garlic, walnuts, lemon juice, olive oil, parmigiano reggiano and salt in a food processor
- Cook a favourite pasta of your choice. The Chiappa girls used Penne, I used Fussili
- In a pan, put the blitzed mixture with a couple of tbsps of pasta water. Wait for a few seconds to cook the garlic (do not brown the garlic).
- Add the pasta, toss to coat and garnish with the remaining cheese.
Simple and extremely delicious.
