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Pesto Trapanese celebrates the luscious tomatoes of summer with fragrant basil, garlic and almonds to make an easy fresh tomato pesto perfect for pasta. We can’t get enough of it.
Why I Love This Recipe
Pesto Trapanese is the perfect pasta sauce for summer: fresh, easy and delicious. And with the tomatoes, it is less vulnerable to heat and time, so it keeps its fresh appearance and taste longer. It is really the ideal summer pasta dish.
Get the famous green pesto recipe too, Pesto alla Genovese
Pesto Trapanese is the short name for what Italians call Pesto alla Trapanese, which comes from the town of Trapani on the Italian island of Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean.
Ingredients
As with so many simple dishes, quality ingredients are essential for Pesto alla Trapanese: fresh garlic, fragrant fresh basil and ripe red tomatoes.
Garlic
We start with garlic, since the local Trapanese name for this dish is actually Pasta cu l’Agghia, literally Pasta with Garlic. So to leave out garlic would make it another dish altogether. Traditionally, a lot more garlic is added, so be my guest if you want to lay on the garlic in honor of the dish’s namesake.
Tomatoes
As one of the Sicilian Pesto Rossos, Pesto alla Trapanese calls for fully ripe, sweet summer tomatoes, ideally with lively acidity.
Smaller pear-shaped tomatoes (perini) are ideal here, or comparable-quality cherry tomatoes (ripe and flavorful). If you are using medium-sized plum tomatoes (San-Marzano style), around 1½ tomatoes per person will be about right.
Tomato Storage Tips for Best Flavor and Texture:
- Store the tomatoes at room temperature. Putting tomatoes in the refrigerator degrades their flavor and texture.
- If the tomatoes aren’t ripe enough, put them out in the sun or near a window for a few days to fully ripen.
Almonds
Ground almonds have been giving texture, adding flavor and thickening Mediterranean dishes like this one since ancient times.
You have a few choices for almonds here:
- Dry-roasted unsalted almonds make the tastiest pesto Trapanese. They are my favorite almonds to use in this pasta dish. (Skins are naturally left on.)
- Blanched almonds (without skin, like the ones in the photo below) are traditional. If you want to blanch your own whole raw almonds, it is simple and only takes about 5 minutes: how to blanch almonds.
- Almond flour or almond meal will work in a pinch.
Basil
Look for freshly picked basil, with smaller leaves, as they are sweeter and more tender. If you are using a mortar and pestle, the smaller leaves are also much easier to pestle into a sauce.
Variations – Italians sometimes throw other fresh herbs into the mix too, such as mint, flat-leaf parsley, sage and rosemary. So can you. However, I do recommend trying the recipe exactly as-is first.
Olive Oil
The better the quality, the better the flavors. To find the best olive oil, seek out small-producer extra-virgin olive oils. (For more tips and recommendations on olive oil, check out Trenette al Pesto.)
Cheese
- Pesto alla Trapanese is made traditionally without cheese, which makes for a nice and light pasta dish.
- Grated pecorino cheese is commonly served with it today. With its deep flavor, pecorino makes an excellent complement.
- For a lighter alternative, try ricotta salata (hard salted ricotta) grated on top. It’s lightly sharp taste is a simple and elegant addition.
Pasta
We eat a lot of Pesto Trapanese in the summer, and here are my top recommendations.
- Busiate – This ancient pasta is the traditional pasta with Pesto alla Trapanese. Around for no less than a thousand years, it is considered the oldest Sicilian pasta.
Busiate is said to get its name from büs, an old Arabic word in Egypt for reed, which was used to shape the pasta. (Sock-knitting needles and bicycle or umbrella spokes have since been used!) - Similar Pastas – Use what you can find from quality artisanal brands with pasta shapes labeled as: casarecce, gemelli, gnocculi, strozzapreti, fusilli or trofie. These are all great shapes to eat with pesto Trapanese.
- Short tubes – penne, rigatoni or even shorter mezzi rigatoni
- Long pastas – linguine, spaghetti or bucatini (hollow spaghetti)
The pasta we use most? That would probably be casarecce.
How to Make Pesto alla Trapanese
A food processor is very convenient. If you want to take it up a level, a mortar and pestle makes a beautiful texture. Either way you choose will be delicious!
Using a Food Processor
Using a food processor is simpler and faster, and makes a great pasta sauce (even though it’s technically no longer a pesto since it hasn’t been pestled)!
Our food processor method is a rustic version that tries to emulate as much as possible what you would get with a mortar and pestle. This is a matter of preference. If you want a smoother texture, blend it on high instead of pulsing it.
Tip: If you want to achieve a rustic texture similar to a pesto made with mortar and pestle, a couple of things you can do are: 1) use short pulses, 2) stir in some roughly hand-chopped tomatoes at the end.
Using a Mortar & Pestle
The traditional method to make Sicilian Pesto alla Trapanese is with mortar and pestle. Pestos made in this ancient way allow you to enjoy the aromas and textures to the fullest. If you have a little extra time and a mortar and pestle, try it. You might find the process very enjoyable, and the flavors and texture worth pulling out the mortar and pestle often. Look how gorgeous that sauce is below. (Zoom in if you are on your phone!)
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Recipe
Tools
- Food Processor or Mortar and Pestle
Ingredients
- 8 ounces (½lb) pasta (see notes for recommendations)
- ½ pound fresh tomatoes (ripe and flavorful)
- 1 to 2 cloves garlic
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 pinch ground black pepper, or 2 whole peppercorns, crushed
- ½ cup almonds (dry-roasted or blanched), roughly chopped
- 2 cups fresh basil (loosely packed leaves), washed and dried
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (of good tasting quality)
- 3 Tablespoons pecorino cheese (optional), freshly grated
Instructions
- For the Pasta: Bring a large covered pot of salted water to boil. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, tender yet still firm to the bite.
- Meanwhile, make the pesto sauce.
Making the Pesto Sauce with a Food Processor
- Cut the tomatoes in half with the skins on. Push the seed sections out with your thumb (optional). Cut into quarters, or if your tomatoes are large, roughly chop. Set aside.
- Blend the garlic, salt and almonds in food processor until finely ground into a sandy texture.
- Add the tomatoes, basil leaves and olive oil. Blend roughly with short pulses to emulate the rustic texture achieved with mortar and pestle. Or if you like a smoother paste, blend on high until it looks just right for you. Taste and adjust for salt.
Making the Pesto Sauce with a Mortar & Pestle
- Peel the tomatoes: Score an x into the skin of the bottom of each tomato and plunge them into the boiling pasta water for a few seconds. Fish them out and let cool for a minute until cool enough to handle (in ice water if you like). Peel the skins off, push the seed sections out with your thumb (optional), and roughly chop. Set aside.
- Pound and grind the garlic, salt and peppercorns into a paste.
- Add the almonds a little at a time, and pestle until smooth.
- Add the basil leaves (if large, tear up by hand) and pound to a paste.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and pestle until smooth.
- Blend in the olive oil with a wooden spoon. Taste and adjust for salt.
Toss with Pasta
- Transfer the sauce to a large serving bowl.
- Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce. (Optional grated cheese can be added here.)
- To serve, sprinkle the pasta or plate borders with small or torn basil leaves. Serve with coarsely ground pepper and grated cheese at the table.
- Handmade fresh busiate – traditional
- Great Alternatives – casarecce, gemelli, gnocculi, strozzapreti, fusilli, trofie
- Short tubed pasta – penne, rigatoni, mezzi rigatoni
- Long pastas – linguine, spaghetti, spaghettoni (thick spaghetti), bucatini (hollow spaghetti)
Nutrition Info: Click to Expand
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More Easy Pastas with Tomatoes
- Rigatoni Pomodoro – made quick and fresh with grated tomatoes
- Penne Pomodoro – an all season stand-by made with convenient canned tomatoes
4 comments
Absolutely superb. Made it as a ‘catering’ and everyone loved it. Have made it again for me!
So glad you liked it, Lynley!
Sicilian Pesto alla Trapanese
I made this recipe because a friend gave me loads of home-grown tomatoes. Delicious! And really enjoyed using the fresh basil from my herb garden.
Glad you enjoyed it. Sounds like you have a great friend!