Pasta alla Trapanese (Sicilian Tomato Pesto) Recipe

Whenever we visit my wife, Micheles, parents, my father-in-law, Al, always passes along a few local, Sacramento area magazines hes saved for us. Theyre usually recipes or food articles he thinks I may be interested in. In fact, sometimes hell do something people almost never do these days: Hell actually walk to the post office and mail us the piece to read. Yes, just like before the Internet.

We had lunch recently and he passed along a magazine with a feature on heirloom tomatoes. I read and enjoyed the article, but only skimmed the serving suggestions that were interspersed throughout. Luckily, Michele was paying much closer attention, and pointed out a picture of Pasta alla Trapanese, a dish I hadnt yet posted on the channel.

Notes From the Chef

I started experimenting with Italys other pesto sauce, and Im very excited to be sharing it with you. Here are some notes:

• You can use any type of ripe, summer tomatoes, but I think sweet, easy to find cherry tomatoes are the best choice.
• If you want to enjoy this like our Sicilian friends, youll need to find some busiate, but any similarly shaped pasta will do.
• No matter what you use, I love this easy, raw sauce, and really do hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients

This recipe was developed at its original yield. Ingredient amounts are automatically adjusted, but cooking times and steps remain unchanged. Note that not all recipes scale perfectly. Original recipe (1X) yields 8 servings.

• 1/2 cup whole roasted almonds
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese, plus more to taste
• 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
• 4 mint leaves (optional)
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pound red cherry tomatoes or red grape tomatoes
• 1 pound busiate pasta, or other curly shaped pasta, such as fusilli

Directions

Step 1: Bring about 2 cups of water to a boil, remove from the heat, and stir in almonds. Let sit for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and once cool enough to handle, rub skins off with your hands. Alternatively, transfer drained almonds to a kitchen towel, fold up the towel, and rub almonds until skins come off.

Step 2: Crush sliced garlic with kosher salt in a mortar and pestle into a smooth paste. Alternatively, place garlic on a board, sprinkle kosher salt on top, and use the flat side of the knife to flatten, mash, and scrape the garlic and salt mixture until it is a smooth paste.

Step 3: Add peeled almonds to the jar of a blender, followed by the cheese, basil, mint, garlic paste, oil, and tomatoes. Add the ingredients in this order, so that the almonds and cheese have a chance to grind before the wetter ingredients mix in. Begin to pulse blender on and off until almonds and cheese are ground, then continue to pulse until remaining ingredients are incorporated. Blend on high until the pesto is as coarse or smooth as you like.

Step 4: Taste for salt, and adjust. Set aside while pasta is cooking.

Step 5: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook busiate pasta in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Transfer pasta into a bowl with a strainer. Reserve starchy cooking liquid.

Step 6: Add about 1/3 cup of the pasta water into the bowl, then transfer in the pesto, along with a large pinch of salt, and toss to coat. More pasta water can be added to adjust the texture. Once mixed, add another optional handful of cheese, and toss one last time.

Step 7: Serve immediately and enjoy!

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

• Calories: 312
• Fat: 21g
• Carbs: 22g
• Protein: 9g
• Saturated Fat: 4g
• Cholesterol: 10mg
• Sodium: 348mg
• Dietary Fiber: 3g
• Total Sugars: 2g
• Vitamin C: 9mg
• Calcium: 147mg
• Iron: 1mg
• Potassium: 244mg

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.