Pasta for friends with walnut, lemon, nutmeg and Grana Padano

A wonderful dish to serve with friends I love the smiles that come with placing a large platter of pasta on the table. Adding the reserved pasta water creates a luscious glossy sauce that pairs beautifully with the slight nutty heat of nutmeg and black pepper. The trick is to have all your ingredients ready before you guests arrive so that its just a case of boiling the pasts for ten minutes or so and chucking it all in the pan.

| Serves 4 – 6 | 

Ingredients

• 400g dried pappardelle pasta

• 150g walnuts

• 100g butter

• ½ nutmeg freshly grated

• Black pepper

• Zest of one lemon

• 200g Grana Padano (or good quality parmesan) finely grated

Method

• Preheat your oven to 180° fan setting and place your walnuts on a clean dry baking tray. Bake for ten minutes before allowing to cool. Roughly chop and set aside.

• Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook pasta according to packet instructions. Before draining scoop up a mug of the cooking water and reserve.

• Drain the pasta and place the pot back on a low heat. Melt the butter and add the grated nutmeg, a good dose of freshly ground black pepper and the lemon zest.

• Pour in the pasta, then the cheese and half the mug of cooking water. Stir to combine allowing the cheese to melt as the hot pasta coats it. Gently add more water to achieve a glossy creamy sauce.

• Add the walnuts and toss until incorporated. Transfer to a large serving platter. Finish with some more finely grated parmesan and fresh ground black pepper.