Preheat oven to 190ºC Butter and flour 2 baking sheets. Beat the eggs and oil together, add the sugar, nutmeg, and pepper, and beat until the ingredients are well combined. Combine the flour and baking soda, and slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg-sugar mixture. Add the walnuts to the dough, which will be fairly stiff, but sticky. Divide the dough into four equal parts. On a floured board, or work surface, form each piece into a rope about 30 cm long and 2 to 8 cm wide. Place the ropes on the baking sheet. Flatten the top of each loaf slightly with your fingertips. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on racks for 10 minutes. Slice each loaf into slices about 1 cm thick. Place the slices on the baking sheets, cutside down, and return to the oven for about 20 minutes. Turn the biscotti after 10 minutes. Cool on racks and store in air-tight tins or jars. ----