Step 1

Crush most of the walnuts and garlic and salt together in a mortar and pestle. Alternately, you can pulse with a hand blender, but leave a bit of texture & chunkiness.

Step 2

Gradually work a cup of the hot water into the walnut mixture, adding more until your sauce is thick as heavy cream. Err on the thick side. Stir in half the cheese, a couple tablespoons of lemon juice, and more freshly ground black pepper than you think you’d want. Taste and add a bit more salt to the sauce if needed. If it’s all in balance, this should taste Awesome. Capital A awesome. Set aside.

Step 3

Now you’re going to cook the green beans in your largest skillet. Warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. Stir in the the green beans, until they’re coated with the oil, and sprinkle with salt. Dial the heat to high. Cook, uncovered, for 7-10 minutes stirring when you start to get some browning and blistering where the beans touch the pan. You really want to get some color here.

Step 4

Transfer the green beans to a serving plater and spoon the walnut sauce over them. You’ll have plenty of sauce left over in case you want to toss some pasta into the mix as well. Serve topped with remaining walnuts, lemon zest, cheese, and chives/chive flowers if you have them.