Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Spaghetti alla Trapanese

Where is the one place on this planet you HAVE to visit?
What country, city, ocean, forest, mountain do you have to see before your time here is gone?
There is so much to see and do in this world it is hard to pick just one spot.
For me it is Italy.
The food, wine, culture, landscape, everything about it is calling my name and has been for a long time.

If I could eat one thing for the rest of my life it would be pasta.
Dress it with olive oil and Parmesan and I'm happy.
Douse it in Alfredo sauce and I'm in heaven.
Toss it in roasted tomatoes and goat cheese and I'll kiss you on the mouth. That's real.
Coat it in fresh homemade pesto... well, there are no words!


Spaghetti alla Trapanese is spaghetti tossed in pesto, but not the traditional pesto with toasted pine nuts instead with almonds. It is the Sicilian way. It is beautiful.

The recipe comes from Jamie Oliver's Italy cookbook. I received this book as a gift from my sister on my last birthday and it has taken me awhile to start cooking from it but the recipes I have made have all turned out great. If you love pasta and Italian food, give it a go. There is a recipe on how to make homemade pasta, I will definitely be doing that soon!


Spaghetti alla Trapanese - Jamie's Italy
Serves 4
  • 1 pound dried spaghetti
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 5 1/2 ounces almonds, skins on or off
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 4 large handfuls fresh basil, leaves picked
  • 5 1/2 ounces freshly grated pecorino or Parmesan cheese
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/2 pounds tomatoes, halved
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add your pasta in to cook.
Warm the almonds in a small, dry pan. Toss them in a food processor (or pestle and mortar) and pulse until you have a course consistency. Put them in a bowl and set aside. Put basil and garlic in processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the almonds back in along with the cheese, a good glug of olive oil, salt and pepper. Pulse a few times to incorporate.


Add mixture to a serving bowl, toss in the tomatoes and scrunch with you hands to mix together until they are completely broken up. Add additional olive oil until it is nice and loose. Add in your drained pasta and toss to combine. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper as needed.
Divide onto four plates, sprinkle with fresh grated Parmesan and serve!


Simple pasta is the best pasta!

Enjoy!






1 comment: