The pesto is pounded in a mortar with a rotating wrist, basil in handfuls, cheese before oil, and it never touches heat; the warmth of the drained pasta is all the cooking it gets. Here, potatoes and green beans cook in the same pot, and the potato starch helps the sauce cling. Use a sweet, golden oil, since a peppery one fights the basil.
Make ahead The pesto keeps for a day in the fridge in a small jar with a film of oil over the top, which slows the browning.
Trofie al Pesto Genovese
Total 45 min · Prep 30 min · Cook 15 min · Serves 4
Method
Wash the basil gently and dry it completely on a cloth; water is pesto’s first enemy, heat the second.
Wash the basil gently and dry the leaves on a cloth before making the pesto. Pound garlic with a few grains of coarse salt in the mortar to a cream. Add pine nuts; pound to a paste.
Add the basil in handfuls with a pinch of salt, crushing against the walls with a rotating wrist rather than smashing, until the leaves release a bright green liquor.
Work in both cheeses, then the oil in a thin stream, stirring with the pestle until you have a dense, fragrant cream. (Food processor truce: pulse briefly with chilled blade and bowl.)
Boil the potatoes in well-salted water for 5 minutes; add the trofie and green beans together and cook until the pasta is al dente.
Reserve a cup of cooking water, drain, and return everything to the warm (not hot) pot off the heat.
Fold in the pesto, loosening with splashes of the starchy water until every twist is coated in pale green cream. Serve immediately.
Equipment
Mortar and PestleA rotating wrist, not force, makes the cream. A food processor works in a pinch.
Large PotPotatoes, beans and pasta share it, then the pesto goes in off the heat.2 options
ColanderScoop out a cup of the starchy water before you drain.
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Estimated per serving
- Calories
- 626 kcal
- Protein
- 20.5 g
- Carbohydrates
- 64.9 g
- Fat
- 30.6 g
One of 4 equal portions. Based on fresh Maffei semolina trofie and mature Pecorino Sardo. Dry pasta gives different values. Includes all listed pesto; sodium is omitted because cooking-water salt retention varies.
Nutrition sources: CREA Centro di ricerca Alimenti e Nutrizione · Pastaio Maffei · Consorzio Parmigiano Reggiano · Consorzio Pecorino Sardo · USDA Agricultural Research Service
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