The Trapani-style pesto is a raw sauce typical of Sicilian cuisine made with local ingredients such as tomatoes, almonds, and pecorino cheese, with the addition of garlic and basil, salt, and oil. It is generally used to dress busiate, a type of tightly coiled fusilli.
I remember tasting Trapani-style pesto for the first time on my first wedding anniversary at a restaurant in San Vito Lo Capo, and it was love at first bite.
Being a pesto, it should ideally be made using a mortar and pestle, but in its absence, you can use an immersion blender.
Now take a moment to read the recipe and then…let’s cook and eat!!
See also
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 9 oz cherry tomatoes (pizzutelli)
- 3 oz blanched almonds
- A few leaves basil
- Half clove garlic
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste fine salt
- 2 tablespoons Sicilian pecorino cheese (grated)
Tools
- 1 Mortar and Pestle
- 1 Kitchen Scale
- 1 Knife
- 1 Grater
Steps
To prepare Trapani-style pesto, start by washing and thoroughly drying the cherry tomatoes and basil leaves.
Then cut the cherry tomatoes in half and place them inside the immersion blender jar.
Also add a pinch of salt, the basil leaves, and half a garlic clove from which you have removed the core.
Start the blender, and only after the tomatoes have released their juice, add the blanched almonds. Continue blending until you achieve the right consistency, which should not be excessively smooth but slightly grainy.
At this point, also add the grated cheese and stir it well into the rest of the ingredients. Adjust the salt, if necessary, and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Your Trapani-style pesto is ready to dress a nice plate of busiate or any other pasta shapes you prefer 😉.
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Storage
Trapani-style pesto can be stored in the fridge for 2 days, in an airtight container with a little oil on top.
