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Pesto alla Trapanese
Pesto alla Trapanese combines crushed almonds, fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil, mint, olive oil, and Romano cheese in a delicious sauce with loads of bright flavor. Toss it with your favorite pasta.
Ingredients
1 pound plum tomatoes
2 ounces blanched almonds (skin on or off)
3 medium garlic cloves
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
25 grams fresh basil leaves (about 35 large leaves)
4 fresh mint leaves
3 1/2 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, coarsely cut up
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 pound linguini (save 2 cups of the pasta water)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, leaving room for the tomatoes.
- Make a cross mark with a sharp knife on the opposite end of the core on all tomatoes.
- When water boils, add the tomatoes with a slotted spoon and keep heat on high.
- As each tomato starts to loosen and peel, remove to a bowl using the slotted spoon (about two minutes or so).
- On your cutting board, peel the skin back and discard (may need to use a pair of tongs to hold the hot tomatoes). Then cut each tomato in quarters the long way. Scrape out seeds and cut out the core and discard. Take what is left, coarsely cut up into 1-inch pieces and set aside.
- Empty the water and refill to cook the linguini. Once boiling, add the pasta and cook according to box directions. Save two cups of the water and drain the pasta.
- While pasta is cooking, in a skillet over medium heat, toast the almonds dry, without oil, until they are starting to darken and pick up a toasty smell. Remove immediately to a bowl so that they stop toasting. Cool slightly.
- In the bowl of a food processor, place garlic, salt and almonds and process to a grain slightly smaller than a grain of rice.
- Add tomatoes, basil, mint, Romano and olive oil and process to a coarse blend by pulsing until the mixture is chopped and combined but not pureed. There should be pieces of tomato, cheese and basil showing.
- Place the mixture into the empty pasta pan (with heat off) and add the cooked pasta along with one cup of the pasta water and stir to combine. The mixture should be hot enough to serve as is, if not, heat slightly. Save the other cup of pasta water to reheat leftovers.
- Serve with additional Romano as needed for garnish.
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