Sicilian Pesto
Sicilian Pesto, pesto alla Siciliana is a creamy no-cook sauce. It is a tasty first course, easy to prepare and so good that everyone always likes it.
It will be an excellent idea both as a hot first course and as an idea for cold pasta.
Casarecce with Sicilian pesto are an excellent first course that recalls the scents of Sicily, with its notes of ricotta and tomato that blend with this pasta shape which is also of Sicilian origin. Casarecce are the ideal match for this simple and genuine, fragrant and colorful pesto.
The Sicilian casarecce with pesto presented here are an excellent summer first course, both for the freshness of the ingredients and because the sauce is prepared raw, and therefore lends itself well to the preparation of a cold pasta.
Of course, you can use other types of pasta instead. I think fusilli or short tubes like penne would be great too. I’ve also come across recipes for this Sicilian pesto with busiate (particularly short busiate), rigatoni and farfalle (bow-tie pasta). So, whatever is in your pantry is probably a good pairing!
The Sicilian pesto used here as a condiment for these original casarecce is a condiment of which, as with all regional recipes, there are various versions that involve the use of different ingredients.
According to most the recipes, pesto Trapanese contains peeled almonds, whereas pesto alla Siciliana usually has pine nuts. However, some people do make this version with almonds or even with pistachios, both typical Sicilian ingredients.
The best tomatoes to use for pesto are deep red ripe San Marzano, datterini (small date tomatoes) or vine tomatoes. Sicilians like to use Pachino tomatoes which are cultivated in Southeast Sicily.
Let's find out together how to prepare it step by step.
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[instagram-feed feed=1] [kofi]Sicilian pesto is a variant of Genoese pesto, obtained with the addition of tomatoes and ricotta. It is a particularly tasty, fresh and highly effective preparation that can be prepared with simple ingredients in just a few minutes.
- 250 g tomatoes
- 180 g pasta (caserecce, penne, rigatoni)
- 75 g fresh sheep ricotta cheese
- 75 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 40 g pecorino romano
- 40 g grana padana or parmigiano reggiano
- 200 g fresh basil leaves
- 20 g pine nuts
- 1 clove garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
Cut the tomatoes into wedges, remove all the seeds and juice and put the pieces in the blender.
Add the basil leaves, the previously crushed garlic, the pine nuts, the Parmigiano and Pecorino, the oil, the pepper, a pinch of salt and blend everything for a few minutes. Transfer everything into a bowl. Add the ricotta and mix with a spoon.
In the meantime, when the salted water is boiling, add the pasta and stir.
When cooked, pour the pasta into a container in which we had poured the pesto. Mix everything together and serve with a fresh basil leaf.
Leave a good ladle of cooking water in case the sauce is not very creamy.
The dish can also be served with a sprinkling of ricotta salata.
The dish can be enjoyed paired with an Inzolia Doc wine from the Settesoli winery.
If you prefer, you can replace the pine nuts with peeled almonds, which you can slice or chop before adding them to the sauce.
