Fresh Pasta with Pesto Cooking Recipe | Trofie Al Pesto Recipe
Trofie are pasta in the shape of a corkscrew, typical of the Recco region near Genoa.
Serves 4
Preparation time: 1 hour
Resting time: 1 hour
Pasta cooking time: 3-5 minutes
Ingredients
- Trofie
- 4 cups (12 oz./400 g) bread flour
- ⅔-1 cup (220 to 240 ml) water
- Salt
- Pesto
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 bunches European basil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon pine nuts
- ⅓ cup (2 oz./50 g) grated Parmesan
- ⅓ cup (2 oz./50 g) grated pecorino, preferably Sardinian
- ⅔ cup (150 ml) olive oil
Equipment
- 1 stone mortar with wooden pestle
Cooking Method
- Prepare the trofie.
- Mix the flour, water, and a pinch of salt into quite a firm, smooth dough.
- Divide it into pieces about the size of a small bean.
- Press down gently while rolling each piece diagonally by hand on the counter, to give it the shape of a corkscrew measuring 1 ½ in. (4 cm) long.
- Let them rest for 1 hour.
Make the pesto.
- Meanwhile, peel the garlic.
- Wash and carefully dry the basil, removing the leaves by hand from any stalks that seem fibrous.
- Pound the kosher salt and garlic in a mortar, then add the basil leaves, continuing to press down with the pestle in a circular movement.
- Incorporate the pine nuts and both cheeses.
- Add the olive oil in a thin stream, whisking continuously to obtain a smooth, creamy emulsion.
- Just before the meal, cook the trofie in a large saucepan of boiling salted water.
- When they are cooked (3 to 5 minutes), drain them, retaining 2 tablespoons of the cooking liquid to thin down the pesto.
- Mix the trofie with the pesto sauce and serve immediately.
Suggested food/wine match
- Lunae Bosoni, Vermentino Lunae—Cotli di Luni DOC
Chef’s notes
- For authentic pasta with pesto, enrich the pasta cooking water with green beans and potatoes cut into small pieces.
- To keep your pesto for several days in the refrigerator transfer to a small glass jar and cover with olive oil before sealing.
- Ideally do not add the cheeses until just before serving.
- Basil has a fragile aroma and oxidizes very quickly when it comes in contact with metal.
- Prepare the pesto In a mortar made of stone with a wooden pestle, if possible; you can use a knife or blender but the aroma will be lost.
- Also, avoid using Thai basil, as its minty quality is not suitable for this recipe.
