Pesto alla Trapanese
Pesto alla Trapanese is a delicious Sicilian pesto made with almonds, fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic and Pecorino cheese. It's super easy to make and perfect tossed with pasta for a quick and delicious weeknight meal!
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 152kcal
Ingredients
- 20-22 cherry tomatoes (200g/7oz)
- ½ cup blanched almonds (75g)
- ½ cup freshly grated Pecorino cheese (30g)
- ⅓ cup fresh basil (6-10 large leaves)
- 1 clove garlic
Instructions
- Toast the blanched almonds (skinless) in a dry pan for a few minutes until slightly golden, let cool.
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile cut a small X at the bottom of each tomato, once the water is boiling add the tomatoes and boil for 1-2 minutes until you see the skins cracking.
- Drain the tomatoes and set them aside to cool for a few minutes then peel off all the skins and squeeze each tomato to remove the seeds and juice, set aside.
- Add the prepared tomatoes, almonds, pecorino, garlic and basil to a food processor and blitz to a fine pesto consistency, you can also use an immersion blender for this.
- Taste for seasoning, I find the Pecorino adds enough salt but add it to taste, serve.
If serving with pasta
- Boil the pasta until al dente and reserve 1 cup of pasta water. Drain the rest of the pasta and add it back to the pot. Add the Pesto alla Trapanese to the pot and use the pasta water a little at a time to mix it through so it coats the pasta evenly (you won’t need all of the water).
- Add salt to taste and serve.
Video
Notes
- Tomatoes - we like to use cherry tomatoes for their sweetness but large tomatoes will work too.
- Blanched almonds - the almonds need to be skinless so blanched almonds make things super easy. If you have almonds with the skin on you'll need to blanch them and remove the skins first.
- Pecorino cheese - pecorino is traditionally used but you could use parmesan instead.
- Consistency - if using the pesto as a pasta sauce make sure to reserve some pasta water to thin out the consistency you can also adjust the consistency with olive oil if using in salads.
- Storage - the pesto will keep well in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Calories: 152kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 159mg | Potassium: 243mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 429IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 181mg | Iron: 1mg