Trenette with pesto

Trenette al pesto

Trenette with pesto

 Duration: 1 h                                    

 Difficulty: easy                                  

 Region: Liguria

Trenette with pesto is a typical Ligurian dish and is very well known on all our tables: it has spread throughout the national territory and also abroad. But not everyone knows that the real dish includes not only the use of Genoese pesto to season pasta, but this is accompanied by boiled potatoes and green beans. In fact, it is only thanks to the addition of these two ingredients that the dish acquires a more complete and distributed taste, without exaggerating with the addition of pesto which can, at times, make the dish less digestible or taste too garlicky.

Pairing Wine: Riviera Ligure di Ponente Pigato DOC

Ingredients

For 4 people:

• 350 g of trenette
• 80 g of green beans
• 250 g of potatoes
• salt

For the preparation of pesto:

• 50 g of basil leaves
• 5 g of garlic
• 25 g of pine nuts
• 50 g of grated parmesan
• Extra virgin olive oil
• salt

 Typical Product: Basilico Genovese

How to Proceed

First you will need to prepare the pesto (which can be prepared at a different time and then used to season the pasta at the desired time).

Real pesto alla genovese should be prepared using a mortar. If you don’t have one, you can use an electronic mixer to chop the ingredients but without turning them into mush, so as to simulate the action of a mortar (remember that it is a pesto and not a sauce 😉 ).

Separate the basil leaves from the sprigs, wash and dry them by holding them between two leaves of kitchen paper. Once dry, add them to the mortar (or mixer). Then peel the garlic clove and add it together with the pine nuts and basil.

Continuing to pound, gradually add the cheese (only 30g, the rest you will use to season the pasta) and the oil so that the mixture of the Genoese pesto is uniform.

Once the pesto is ready, you can place it in the fridge and use it later, or you can use it to dress the trenette. Remember at the end to add plenty of extra virgin olive oil both if you consume it fresh and if you want to use it later.

Fill a pot with water together with the green beans and the potato cut into small pieces. Put it on the fire until the water starts to boil. Add some salt. When both the green beans and the potato are soft, add the trenette.

Once the pasta is cooked too, strain everything into a colander. Drain all the contents well and serve it on plates, adding the pesto then the remaining cheese and a little raw oil