Trapanese pesto sauce recipe
Chef and food writer Claire Thomson, author of this recipe, says: "How did Genovese pesto become the powerhouse of no-cook pasta sauces? Very probably because the jarred version is so ubiquitous on the supermarket shelves. Trapanese pesto, however, if you did want to make your own rather than rely on Genovese-style shop-bought varieties, is an easy rival – good tomatoes, ripe and sweet, pulverised with skinned almonds, raw garlic, olive oil and basil. It is simple to make at home, pretty much in the time it takes for the pasta to boil.
"Some would say this is a no-cheese pasta dish, but I like to add a good shower of freshly grated pecorino to serve. Sheep’s milk is more commonplace for cheese-making in Sicily than cow’s, so pecorino makes more sense to me here than Parmesan."
Ingredients
- 40 g skinned whole almonds
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped, to taste
- 0.5 small bunch of basil, leaves picked
- 350 g peeled tomatoes, reseeded and quartered
- 80 ml good olive oil
- 1 pinch salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 400 g pasta of choice
- 1 pinch pecorino, finely grated (shredded), to serve (optional)
Details
- Cuisine: Italian
- Recipe Type: Pasta sauce
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 15 mins
- Cooking Time: 10 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan over a moderate heat, stirring often, for about three minutes, until fragrant and very lightly golden. Remove from the heat.
- In a food processor, combine the toasted almonds with the garlic and basil and pulse until well combined in a coarse rubble. Add the tomatoes and blitz briefly to break them down and loosen the pesto. Stir through the olive oil, then check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste. Put to one side. Alternatively, chop the lot on a large wooden chopping board, or use a pestle and mortar to grind, then add the mixture to a bowl and stir in the olive oil to combine. Stored in a jar in the fridge under a layer of olive oil, the sauce will last well for up to three days.
- To serve, cook the pasta according to the packet instructions until al dente. Drain, reserving a little of the pasta cooking water. Return the pasta to the pan and stir though the Trapanese sauce, adding a splash of the reserved cooking water to loosen. Sprinkle with a little pecorino to serve.
Extracted from Tomato by Claire Thomson (Quadrille, £22). Photography by Sam Folan.
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