Recipe
Busiate With Pesto Trapanese, Rolled by Hand
- Prep
- 1 h
- Cook
- 10 min
- Total
- 1 h 10 min
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the busiate
- 320 g semola rimacinata (fine durum flour), plus extra for dusting
- 160 ml warm water
- A pinch of fine salt
For the pesto
- 500 g ripe tomatoes
- 60 g blanched almonds, lightly toasted
- 1 small garlic clove
- A large handful of basil leaves (about 30 g)
- 70 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 40 g aged pecorino, finely grated
- Salt
Method
- Mix the flour and salt on a board, add the warm water and knead for 8 minutes until the dough is smooth and firm. Wrap and rest for 30 minutes.
- Pinch off pieces of dough and roll each into a rope about as thick as a pencil. Cut into 6 cm lengths.
- Wind each length around a thin knitting needle or skewer, press down and roll it back and forth, then slide off. It should be a loose corkscrew. Dust with flour and leave on the board.
- Cut a cross in the base of each tomato, cover with boiling water for 30 seconds, then peel and halve them. Squeeze out the seeds.
- Pound the almonds and garlic with a pinch of salt in a mortar, or pulse in a food processor. Add the basil and tomatoes and crush to a rough sauce.
- Stir in the olive oil and pecorino. Taste and add salt if it needs it.
- Boil the busiate in plenty of salted water for 4 to 5 minutes, until they rise and are tender. Drain, keeping a cupful of the water.
- Toss the pasta with the pesto in the warm pan, off the heat, adding a splash of the cooking water to loosen it. Serve at once.
