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This Walnut Cream Sauce recipe with Ricotta and Spinach is creamy, nutty and delicious. The sauce takes only 10 minutes prep time, doesn’t require any cooking and can be made entirely ahead and stored in the fridge! Just cook pasta, warm sauce, and combine for quick 30 minutes total time.
This Walnut Cream Sauce recipe with Ricotta and Spinach is thick, rich, nutty, and creamy. It’s inspired by the traditional Italian Walnut Sauce from the North-western Italy, Liguria Region. My Walnut Sauce recipe adds creamy ricotta and more nutty parmesan cheese for ultimate decadence. Each bite is creamy and nutty and incredibly satisfying! The sauce takes only 10 minutes to make, doesn’t require any cooking and can be made entirely ahead and stored in the fridge! Talk about a time-saving dinner option!
If you like this Italian Pasta, you should also check out my Sour Cream Tomato Sauce Pasta! Or if you’re looking for more Meatless Meals, there are more!
Simple Ingredients for this Walnut Cream Sauce Recipe
Fridge Ingredients:
- Milk (I used 1%, but any is good)
- Ricotta
- Parmesan Cheese
Pantry Ingredients:
- Slice of White bread, gluten free or any white bread is fine
- Walnuts, plain toasted
- Garlic Clove
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Oregano, dried
- Salt
A New Version of Traditional Walnut Sauce
I had a Creamy Walnut Sauce pasta for the first time in Italy when my husband and I were in Cinque Terre. It was served with Pansotti, which is a stuffed pasta similar to ravioli, filled with ricotta and spinach.
My recipe deconstructs the dish putting ricotta and spinach directly into the sauce. When you blend the walnuts, magic happens! They release their oils and combine with the other ingredients to form a creamy texture and taste.
I added Fettuccine so the sauce could coat each and every piece of pasta for perfect bites.
Once you try this walnut pasta sauce you will be hooked!
Quick note! This post contains affiliate links, which means I earn a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you purchase from them. This commission is what helps me keep this blog afloat :). But, I also share these links because I have used the products, genuinely love them, and want you to know exactly what I used.
Time Saving Prep-Ahead Steps for this Walnut Cream Sauce
You are busy, so these are the steps you can do a day or two in advance to prepare food ahead!(See the recipe below for more details)
For this recipe, you can make the sauce entirely ahead of time. Then mix it with pasta when you are ready to eat.
The traditional recipe uses bread to thicken the sauce. I tried Gluten Free white bread from Trader Joe’s and it worked beautifully! Of course, you can use regular white bread instead. Cut off the crust of one slice and simply soak the bread in the milk for a few minutes.
Once the bread is soaked, add it and the remaining milk to a blender. If you don’t have a blender, you can also you a food processor. Also add to the blender the walnuts, parmesan cheese, ricotta, oregano, salt, garlic, and olive oil. Then Blend it up! It will be extremely thick, so you may need to scrape down the sides. Loosen the mixture up at the bottom of the blender as needed. If it’s still too thick to blend, add a tablespoon at a time of lukewarm water until it starts to blend smooth. You can store the sauce in the fridge for up to a week.
Cook the Pasta and Finish with the Walnut Sauce and Spinach
When you’re ready to eat this amazing Walnut Sauce, pick your pasta and cook it according to pack instructions. I used a Gluten Free Fettuccine. You can use any pasta that you love in this recipe! I have also used Wide Rice Noodles as fettuccine replacements before (see my Chicken, Tomato, Pepper, Pasta) and they work great!
Warm your sauce through in a skillet over medium heat and then add the baby spinach. Mix it so that the spinach begins to wilt, just a couple minutes. Then add the drained pasta, but MAKE SURE TO SAVE SOME OF THE PASTA WATER. As you mix the pasta into the walnut sauce you will find it extremely thick, which is how it should be. However, you’ll probably want to thin it out a bit by adding a tablespoon of pasta water at a time until it reaches the consistency you want.
Finally season with salt and pepper to taste, plate and garnish with fresh grated parmesan.
Walnut Cream Sauce Recipe FAQs
What can I substitute for the Ricotta cheese?
If you don’t have ricotta, you can substitute in cottage cheese, cream cheese or mascarpone.
How long will leftover Walnut sauce last and how do I store it?
If you have extra walnut sauce, store it in a container in the refrigerator and use it within 5 days. You can also freeze the sauce in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Can I save the pasta after it’s been mixed with the Walnut Sauce?
After you mix the pasta with the Walnut Cream Sauce, you can store it in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. To warm it up, add a little milk or water to help loosen it if its too thick and warm it slowly on the stove on low heat.
Is this Vegetarian and Vegan?
This Walnut Cream Sauce recipe is vegetarian, but it is not vegan. There is both ricotta cheese and parmesan cheese.
What can I serve with this Walnut Cream Sauce Pasta?
Because this sauce has lots of protein from the walnuts and veg with the spinach, this pasta dish is pretty balanced. You really do not need to add any additional protein. However, you could certainly add a simple grilled chicken! You could also add in this Awesome Oven Fried Chicken Breasts with Bacon Crumbs! For a side, Herb Parmesan Crisps and Shallot Vinaigrette Salad is perfect!
ENJOY!😍 Carrie
Have you tried this recipe? If so, please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe below! I love to hear your feedback and your rating helps others to find this recipe. Thanks so much!
Walnut Sauce Pasta with Ricotta and Spinach
This Walnut Cream Sauce Pasta with Ricotta and Spinach is thick, rich, nutty, and creamy. It's inspired by the traditional Italian Walnut Sauce from the North-Western Italy, Liguria Region. My Walnut Sauce recipe adds creamy ricotta and more nutty parmesan cheese for ultimate decadence. Each bite is creamy and nutty and incredibly satisfying! The sauce takes only 10 minutes to make, doesn’t require any cooking and can be made entirely ahead and stored in the fridge! Talk about a time-saving dinner option!
CourseMain Course, pasta
CuisineItalian
Keywordgluten free, pasta, spinach, vegetarian, walnut sauce
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Calories 555 kcal
Author Carrie Tyler
Ingredients
Walnut Sauce
- 1cupmilk1% or 2%
- 1slice white bread, gluten freeany white bread is fine
- 1 ½cupswalnuts, plain
- ½cloveGarlic
- ¼cupParmesan Cheese, grated
- ¼cupRicotta
- 3TablespoonsExtra Virgin Olive Oil
- ½teaspoonOregano, dried
- ¼teaspoonSalt
Make Pasta & Mix with Sauce
- 16ouncesFettuccine Pasta, driedGluten Free
- 1teaspoonExtra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2cupsBaby Spinach2 heaping cups or handfuls is great here
Instructions
Prep Ahead – Make Sauce
Cut the crust off the bread slice and soak in the milk. Once it is soaked, add both the soaked break and the milk into the blender.
To the blender, add the walnuts, parmesan cheese, ricotta, oregano, salt, garlic, and olive oil.
Pulse to start the blending and incorporate all ingredients. Then blend until smooth. If it gets stopped up, stir with a spoon or spatula. If it really can’t get going, add a tablespoon at a time of lukewarm water until it starts to blend smooth. The sauce should be very thick at this stage.
At this point, you can cook move on to warm the sauce and mix with the pasta and spinach or store in the fridge for up to a week.
Cook with Pasta
Cook the Pasta according to package instructions. Drain the Pasta, but save the pasta water for thinning out the walnut sauce.
Coat the bottom of a large preheated skillet with a drizzle of Olive Oil. Then add the Walnut Sauce to heat through. (Note, the sauce will be super thick, so you may need to thin it out with pasta water. It also may more sauce than you need so you can save some of it and add it if needed). Turn the heat down to low.
Add the Baby Spinach to the sauce and mix to combine. You don’t need to cook it long, just 1-2 minutes, as you want the bright green color and fresh flavor to remain. The heat of the sauce will wilt down the spinach.
Once the sauce is heated through and the spinach starts to wilt, drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Add 2 tbls of the pasta water to thin out the sauce slightly and mix through with this pasta. Add another tbls of pasta water if needed. Finally, taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed.
Serve the pasta with walnut sauce with freshly grated parmesan cheese and Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- What can I substitute for the Ricotta cheese? If you don’t have ricotta, you can substitute in cottage cheese, cream cheese or mascarpone.
- How long will leftover Walnut sauce last and how do I store it? If you have extra walnut sauce, store it in a container in the refrigerator and use it within 5 days. You can also freeze the sauce in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 4 months.
- Can I save the pasta after it’s been mixed with the Walnut Sauce? After you mix the pasta with the Walnut Cream Sauce, you can store it in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. To warm it up, add a little milk or water to help loosen it if its too thick and warm it slowly on the stove on low heat.
