I received a couple of wonderful-looking new cookbooks over the holidays, and last night I finally tried one of them out. I decided on a spaghetti dish with broccoli, walnuts, and a ricotta sauce. It was more exciting than it sounds–I finally got to use the zester I’d picked up months ago! The only trouble was with the cheese; after stirring in the ricotta, it didn’t take on the creamy texture the photo in the book displayed. After some Internet searching, I think the cheese should have been mixed or blended before-hand. I’ll try that next time. Other than that, it was fantastic and I have plenty of leftovers for tonight.
Really, walnuts in spaghetti? Did they soften up or remain crunchy? I might have to give that a try. Although it sounds more like a lasagna sauce because of the ricotta and texture you were looking for. It also could have been the brand of cheese causing difference, different ricotta’s have different fat contents.
I baked the walnuts for about 8 minutes, just until they start to brown a bit. They added a nice crunch to the dish. I used a low-fat ricotta, maybe next time I’ll try a regular variety 🙂