Pesto alla trapanese
The Sicilian cousin of Genoese pesto. It comes from Trapani — tradition has it that Genoese sailors brought the custom of pounding basil with garlic to this port, and Sicilians added what they had to hand: ripe tomatoes and almonds. The result is a raw, slightly coarse, rosy sauce — fresh, sweetish from the tomatoes and nutty. It is not cooked, just tossed with hot pasta, traditionally busiate. With the pasta, the whole thing takes about 25 minutes, and the flavour depends on truly ripe summer tomatoes.
Your own work in that: 10 min.
- Toasting the almonds 5 min
- Peeling the tomatoes 10 min
- Pounding 10 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneToast the almonds
Put a large pan of water on for the pasta. Toast the almonds in a dry pan 3–4 minutes, stirring often, until lightly golden and fragrant. Cool.
Ingredients: 400 g ripe small tomatoes (datterini or cherry) · 60 g blanched almonds · 40 g basil leaves · 2 cloves garlic · 40 g pecorino, grated · 100 ml extra virgin olive oil · ¾ tsp salt · ¼ tsp black pepper
Just lightly golden — for a nutty note.Peel the tomatoes
Score the tomatoes, cover with boiling water for 30 seconds, cool under cold water and slip off the skins. Halve them and remove some of the seeds and juice.
Ingredients: 400 g ripe small tomatoes (datterini or cherry) · 60 g blanched almonds · 40 g basil leaves · 2 cloves garlic · 40 g pecorino, grated · 100 ml extra virgin olive oil · ¾ tsp salt · ¼ tsp black pepper
Skinless — the pesto will be silky.Pound almonds with garlic
In a mortar pound the garlic with the salt, add the almonds and crush to coarse crumbs. You can also use a food processor on pulse.
Ingredients: 400 g ripe small tomatoes (datterini or cherry) · 60 g blanched almonds · 40 g basil leaves · 2 cloves garlic · 40 g pecorino, grated · 100 ml extra virgin olive oil · ¾ tsp salt · ¼ tsp black pepper
Add the basil
Add the basil (set a few leaves aside for serving) and pound until it turns into a green paste with bits of almond.
Ingredients: 400 g ripe small tomatoes (datterini or cherry) · 60 g blanched almonds · 40 g basil leaves · 2 cloves garlic · 40 g pecorino, grated · 100 ml extra virgin olive oil · ¾ tsp salt · ¼ tsp black pepper
In a mortar — the pesto stays coarse.Add the tomatoes
Add the tomatoes and crush them until they blend with the paste. Pesto trapanese should be coarse, not smooth like a purée.
Ingredients: 400 g ripe small tomatoes (datterini or cherry) · 60 g blanched almonds · 40 g basil leaves · 2 cloves garlic · 40 g pecorino, grated · 100 ml extra virgin olive oil · ¾ tsp salt · ¼ tsp black pepper
Stir in oil and cheese
Pour in the oil in a thin stream, stirring, then add the pecorino (keep a spoonful back for sprinkling) and pepper. Taste and add salt.
Ingredients: 400 g ripe small tomatoes (datterini or cherry) · 60 g blanched almonds · 40 g basil leaves · 2 cloves garlic · 40 g pecorino, grated · 100 ml extra virgin olive oil · ¾ tsp salt · ¼ tsp black pepper
Toss with pasta
Drop the pasta into the salted boiling water when you start pounding the pesto and cook it al dente (traditionally busiate; casarecce or spaghetti work too). Drain, keeping some water, and toss with the pesto off the heat, loosening it with a spoonful or two of pasta water.
Ingredients: 400 g busiate pasta (or casarecce or spaghetti)
Serve
Serve at once, sprinkled with the reserved pecorino and basil leaves. Pesto trapanese is also eaten with grilled fish and on toast.
Ingredients: 400 g ripe small tomatoes (datterini or cherry) · 60 g blanched almonds · 40 g basil leaves · 2 cloves garlic · 40 g pecorino, grated · 100 ml extra virgin olive oil · ¾ tsp salt · ¼ tsp black pepper
Before you start
Which tomatoes
You need truly ripe, sweet tomatoes — they make the sauce. Out of season, classic basil pesto is a better choice than a version with bland tomatoes.
Without cheese
Some Sicilian households leave out the cheese and sprinkle the pasta with toasted breadcrumbs (muddica) instead. The pesto is then lighter and fully plant-based.
Storage
Keep pesto made with raw tomatoes and garlic in the fridge, in a closed container under a thin layer of oil, for at most 2 days. Do not leave it at room temperature or store it in jars in the pantry — raw garlic and herbs in oil without refrigeration can allow botulism bacteria to grow.