Late September marked the annual California Walnut Harvest Chef Summit, bringing a group of chefs and media to Sacramento for an in-depth look at the mighty and versatile walnut. Highlights included a tour of Norene Ranches’ walnut orchard and a culinary workshop at The Art Institute of California in Sacramento, where chef Juliet Greene introduced attendees to the vast capabilities of walnuts on the menu, and guided them through an immersion to stretch the culinary bounds of the nut.
The resulting creations spanned the menu, and showcased the versatility of this workhorse ingredient in dishes like a Fall Flatbread—grilled walnut dough with roasted butternut squash purée, walnut ricotta feta and charred apple and onion salad; Jalapeño Goat Cheese-Wrapped Walnuts; Lemon Walnut Ricotta Agnolotti with a walnut-white bean Bolognese and California Walnut Churros with dark chocolate and ancho-citrus sugar.
Try some of the recipes here:
