Pasta Alla Trapanese
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Pasta Alla Trapanese
Recipe by Magdalena Roze
Ingredients
400g dried pasta (ideally Busiate, but fusilli will work too)
1 cup almonds
1 clove garlic
2 generous pinches flaky sea salt
1 cup basil leaves
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
50g pecorino cheese (or parmigiano Reggiano if not available)
1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil
Zest of half a lemon
Extra basil leaves, pecorino and olive oil to serve.
METHOD
Place the almonds in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds to blanch. After 30 seconds, remove straight away, drain and rinse with cold water. We want to remove skins but not cook them! You will see the skins very easily pop off! Dry the almonds with a tea towel and then place them in a pan over low to medium heat to toast. This should take 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Cook pasta in salted boiling water according to packet instructions until “al dente.”
Place 3/4 cup of these almonds into a food processor with salt and garlic, pulse until creamy. Now add basil and pulse, then tomatoes, pecorino and 1/4 cup olive oil. Pulse until smooth (I like the cherry tomatoes still a little intact). Add more olive oil if it feels dry. Add lemon zest, taste, then season with salt and pepper. Chop the remaining 1/4 cup toasted almonds and set aside, as this is your garnish.
When pasta is “al dente”, drain being sure to reserve at least 2 ladles of starchy cooking water. In a large bowl, combine the pasta, pesto and a ladle of cooking water, gently stirring until it all comes together. Add more cooking water if need be. Don’t be tempted to heat the pesto beforehand. The warmth of the pasta is enough as this dish doesn’t need to be piping hot.
Serve immediately with a little extra pecorino, basil leaves, drizzle of olive oil and chopped almonds. This is not traditional, but I like a squeeze of lemon too!
