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Pesto alla Trapanese (Sicilian Pesto Recipe)

Pesto alla Trapanese is a Sicilian pesto combining almonds, cherry tomatoes and basil. This pesto is the perfect pairing for busiate pasta just like they serve in Trapani!
Course Sauces
Cuisine Sicilian-Italian
Keyword Sicilian pesto with almonds cherry tomatoes and basil, pesto all Trapanese
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Servings 1 cup
Calories 713kcal

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup whole almonds
  • 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 cup basil leaves about 20 leaves loosely packed
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt

Instructions

Prepare the almonds

  • Boil water in a small sauce pan, add almonds and boil for 1 minute. Drain and when they're cool enough to handle use your fingers to peel off the skin. It will easily slip off. Preheat oven to 350F and toast almonds for 10 minutes.

Prepare the cherry tomatoes

  • Score the top of each tomato with a sharp knife. Bring water in that same sauce pan to a gentle boil. Add tomatoes and blanch for 1 minute. The skin will begin to shrivel. Drain and place in a bowl. When cool enough to handle, peel off the skin, roughly chop the tomatoes and set aside in a bowl.

With a mortar and pestle

  • Place garlic and a pinch of salt in the mortar and crush until you have a paste. Add almonds and continue crushing until you have a rough paste. Finally, add basil leaves and another pinch of salt and grind all ingredients together until well combined.
  • Transfer the mixture to the bowl with the cherry tomatoes and stir until combined. The pesto will have small chunks of tomatoes and will not be as smooth as pesto made in a food processor. If your mortar is large enough, you can also add the tomatoes to the almond mixture and grind all ingredients together.

With a food processor

  • Place all ingredients in the bowl of your food processor and process until smooth. For a chunkier consistency pulse a few times until you have the desired texture.  Add salt, to taste.

Notes

 

  • Pesto all Trapanese is traditionally served with busiate pasta however you can definitely serve it with other types of fresh pasta such as my homemade cavatelli, as well as commercial dry pasta. I prefer medium sized shaped pasta such as penne, rigatoni or fusilli that will catch the sauce.
  • Whole cherry tomatoes can also be added to the pesto without blanching and peeling.
  • Italian plum tomatoes may be substituted for cherry tomatoes.
  • You may notice that I did not add grated Pecorino Romano cheese to the pesto. I prefer adding grated cheese when I serve the pasta, however if you prefer you can add a couple of spoonfuls of cheese to your pesto.
  • This recipe makes enough to serve with 500 grams of cooked pasta.
  • Be sure to reserve pasta cooking water to thin out the pesto, if necessary, when adding to the pasta.
  • Pesto alla Trapanese will keep well refrigerated for up to 3 days.
  • It can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
  • Please note that the nutritional information provided is for the entire pesto recipe and does not include the pasta.

Nutrition

Calories: 713kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 64g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Sodium: 28mg | Potassium: 1062mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 2359IU | Vitamin C: 57mg | Calcium: 267mg | Iron: 5mg