Genoa: Trofie Pasta with Pesto

Serves 4
350 g fresh Trofie
30 g grated Parmesan cheese
20 g grated Pecorino Sardo cheese
12 gr pine nuts
25/30 basil leaves
Garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Coarse salt

Genoa: Trofie with Pesto. Gently wash and dry the basil well. Pound some leaves in a mortar, gradually adding the others, add pine nuts, a clove of garlic cut into thin slices and a pinch of coarse salt. At the end, a homogeneous mush should result. Add the pecorino and parmesan cheese and start mixing, adding about 40 grams of oil per thread. Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water. Pour a tablespoon of the cooking water into the pesto to make it creamier. Drain the pasta and toss it with the pesto. Serve hot, garnishing to taste with whole basil leaves and a little grated Parmesan cheese. Trofie is a type of typical Ligurian pasta with an elongated, thin shape, believed to originate in Sori, near Genoa. The peculiarity of trofie is its curled shape, like a wood chip, and for this reason it goes perfectly with pesto as it manages to penetrate deep into the crevices of the trofia’s curl and make it even tastier. Today, trofie can also be found in supermarkets, but until a few years ago it was a typically home-made pasta, handmade by the skilful movements of housewives who, working for local pasta factories, managed to round out the family budget. There is also a ‘bastard’ version of trofie using chestnut flour and making the final product sweeter. Trofie with pesto goes ideally with a still white wine such as Vermentino.