To answer FF and SB, yes I did make the recipe (the Bittman version) the night it was posted. Since I am just one person, the amount was enough for two dinners. Here are my observations, so far:

First attempt: It definitely needs the salt and fresh-ground black pepper, because the walnut/parsley combination has a more subtle flavor than, say, a basil pesto. Yeah, I did increase the garlic, but only by a very small amount. I had some fresh shrimp ready to go, so I did not make the meal a vegetarian one. The shrimp helped, IMO. The problems were these: I used too much of the sauce on the pasta, and I should have added a bit more pasta water to the mixture than I did. The result was that the sauce was way too "heavy" for me - if you notice how much olive oil is in the recipe, then you can see the trouble on the horizon. Basically, around an hour or so after eating, my intestines declared all-out war. Even the grated cheese didn't prevent the conflagration.

Back to the drawing board...

Second attempt: I didn't really have to go too far, for there was still about one third of the sauce left in the refrigerator. I had used my blender to prepare the mixture, and I simply put everything into the refrigerator for a day or so, where it kept quite well. So, for the next try, I took the sauce out of cold storage and let it slowly return to room temperature. First off, I thought it needed a bit more salt for flavor, so I added some. It also needed substantially more pasta water than I used the first time, so I added more and blended everything together by pulsing the blender over and over until everything was "whipped" together. It now wasn't nearly as "heavy" as the first time around (when I had stirred in the water by hand), and I actually liked the texture of the sauce. Again, I topped everything with a generous sprinkling of grated cheese, but this time I served the pasta over a bed of chopped-up albacore tuna. Worked quite well, IMO. (And I didn't have to reach for the Alka-Seltzer, either!)

I am not a vegetarian, though I have no problem with those who are or with meat-free meals. But, I have to say that for me, for the pasta w/walnut sauce recipe to work as a main course, I would have to add something like shrimp, tuna, or some other kind of protein. Without them, I think the dish works better as an appetizer. But, again, that's just my (and my stomach's) opinion.

Before I forget: This is one recipe where the parsley absolutely must be fresh. Actually, I feel all the ingredients should be fresh in order for their true flavors to come through.

So, that's my adventure (and I lived to tell the tale... ).


Signor V.