Pictured here
20 MINUTES (5 MINUTES ACTIVE)
MAKES 1½ CUPS
Sometimes I fall for exotic ingredients, but day in and day out, I lean on the plainest foods. Here’s a rich and versatile sauce that summons depth of flavor from the most ordinary of ingredients: parsley and walnuts. One trick is toasting the nuts to fragrant richness, and the other is another easy grocery store find: a couple of anchovy fillets. Don’t worry, they don’t taste fishy amid all the other ingredients—they just whisper something rich and satisfying from backstage. You can use them to the same subtle effect when braising greens or whisking up a vinaigrette.
• 2 cups walnut halves
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 2 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped
• ½ cup olive oil, plus more as needed
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 300˚F. Arrange the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool.
Pulse the garlic and anchovies in a food processor until combined. Add half the walnuts and process into a paste, about 2 minutes. Add the ½ cup oil, the vinegar, and the paprika and process to combine. Add the remaining walnuts and the parsley and pulse until there are roughly chopped bits of nut within the paste, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper; add more olive oil (up to 2 tablespoons) to make a more fluid pesto as desired. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.