Sugo di noci/salsa di noci is a walnut cream sauce, which in Genova and Liguria is equally as famous (if not as well-know to the rest of the world) as pesto. Sugo di noci is most frequently paired with pansotti, a Genovese dumpling, which is generally larger than ravioli, with an always-meatless filling. This meal is believed to have come about during Lent, and exists now as a holdover from a more devout time, when people would abstain from eating meat for the whole Lenten season (not just on Fridays).
There are conflicting stories about when exactly sugo di noci was first created. The 1931 Gastronomic Guide of Italy lists “pansoti cu a salsa de nuge” under recipes from the city of Rapallo, specifically the village of San Martino di Noceto (noci being walnuts, indicating that they were in abundance there). Other sources credit sisters Manuelina and Maria Rosa (both from Recco) and chef Antonio Ruggero with inventing this sauce at the Nervi Food Festival in the 1960s. Whatever the case, sugo di noci is a rich, creamy sauce made by pulverizing garlic, walnuts, marjoram, pine nuts, salt, breadcrumbs, grated parmigiano reggiano, and a little bit of milk with a mortar and pestle. Once made into a crumbly, slightly wet, evenly mixed paste, prescinseua and panna fresca (fresh cream) are mixed in, making the paste even more creamy.
Pansotti (pansoti) gets its name from the word “pansa,” meaning “belly.” Each year there are different festivals held for pansotti: the town of Fontanegli has its Feast of Pansotti on July 14th (or thereabouts), while the town of Bogliasco celebrates from July 20th-22nd (or thereabouts). Pansotti is famous for its preboggion, a mixture of herbs that are indigenous to Liguria. Including nettle, dandelion, poppy, burnet, chard, and “talaegua” (mountain lettuce, the most important ingredient in the preboggion, which gives the pansotti its bitter, pungent taste). The word preboggion comes from “pro Buggion,” a legend that credits a decoction of these herbs in healing the crusader Godfrey of Bouillon.