Our visit to La Bottega, an Italian food store specialising in products from Sicily, inspired us to create this recipe for pistachio pesto pasta. This recipe was inspired by one of Chiara’s favourite products and her love of pistachios and combined it with the traditional flavours of pasta alla trapanese.
Pasta alla Trapanese is a classic Sicilian dish from the province of Trapani in western Sicily, Italy. The story goes that pesto alla Trapanese originated with ancient Ligurian merchants who brought pesto to the Sicilians who then made it their own using ingredients native to Sicily, such as almonds. The traditional recipe is made with raw ripe tomatoes, garlic, almonds, and basil, along with a little pecorino cheese and olive oil. The pesto is pounded by hand in a mortar and pestle, giving it a unique texture and depth of flavour. Traditionally, the pesto is eaten with busiate, a twisted pasta typical of Sicily.
In addition to the traditional raw tomato, we use Fratelli Burgio estratto di pomodoro – a tomato concentrate traditionally obtained by sun-drying tomato sauce – and pistachios replace the almonds in the pesto alla Trapanese. This recipe for Pasta alla Trapanese with estratto di pomodoro and pistachio pesto pays homage to the traditional flavours of Sicilian cuisine, while at the same time incorporating new ingredients inspired by La Bottega’s products.
Recipe for pistachio pesto pasta
Ingredients for 4 hungry people:
- 400g Busiate, Bucatini or other pasta
- 2 tbsp Fratelli Burgio Estratto di pomodoro
- 60ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 15g grated Pecorino Romano cheese, plus more to serve
- 15g chopped fresh basil
- Handful of ripe tomatoes, to serve
- Pepper to taste
For the pistachio pesto:
- 75g shelled pistachio nuts
- 60ml extra virgin olive oil (4 tbsp)
- 30g grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 2 cloves garlic
- 15g chopped fresh basil
- Pinch of salt
Instructions:
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- Make the Pistachio Pesto:
Using a pestle and mortar: pound the pistachios until coarsely crushed, then transfer to a separate bowl. Crush the garlic with a pinch of salt in the mortar, then add the basil in batches, crushing to create a fine paste. Add the crushed pistachios back in and transfer the grated cheese to the mortar. Pounding until fully incorporated. Drizzle in olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time, and mix it into the sauce.
Using a food processor: combine pistachio nuts, olive oil, Pecorino Romano cheese, garlic, basil, and salt. Blend until the pesto is somewhat smooth and creamy. - Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Reserve some pasta cooking water before draining.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the minced garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Be careful not to burn them.
- Add the Fratelli Burgio Estratto di Pomodoro to the frying pan and stir to combine with the garlic and red pepper flakes. Add some of the pasta cooking water and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the cooked pasta to the frying pan with the Estratto di Pomodoro and toss to coat the pasta evenly. If the pasta seems too dry, add some of the reserved pasta cooking water to the frying pan.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the grated Pecorino Romano cheese and chopped basil. The Estratto and Pecorino are already quite salty, so the dish probably does not need extra salt, but taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary.
- Serve the pasta hot with fresh tomatoes, a dollop of pistachio pesto on each portion and some extra grated cheese if you like.
This pasta dish is a delicious blend of savoury tomato flavour from Fratelli Burgio Estratto di Pomodoro and the rich nuttiness of the pistachio pesto, inspired by the flavours of La Bottega’s Sicilian cuisine. Enjoy!