Spaghetti with Pesto alla Trapanese

Trapani, on the western coast of Sicily, is famous for its salt mines and tuna fishing. More recently it’s become known for pesto alla Trapanese, a ground almond and herb sauce that is Sicily’s answer to Genoa’s famous emerald-hued basil pesto.

The two sauces share some similarities; both are made with young basil and garlic. But the Sicilian version swaps in almonds for pine nuts and adds a handful of cherry tomatoes. Just a handful, though. This is by no means a tomato sauce, and if you look at the finished dish you might not even know the tomato is in there. What it contributes is depth, a touch of sweetness, and a hit of umami.

Like pesto alla Genovese, this pesto is a “raw” sauce. The ingredients are pounded in a mortar or pulsed in a food processor, then tossed with hot cooked spaghetti, along with grated Pecorino cheese and a few splashes of starchy pasta water to help loosen things up.

In this version I’ve gone slightly rogue, using a mix of mint and basil and tossing in a few leaves of arugula as well. The addition of mint isn’t really far-fetched; mint is a common ingredient in Sicilian cooking. The arugula was a last-minute thing. My daughter had just harvested some tender leaves from the garden she planted in the backyard and, well, my hand just reached out and grabbed a few.

SPAGHETTI WITH PESTO ALLA TRAPANESE
Makes enough to dress 1 pound of pasta

INGREDIENTS
8 to 10 ripe cherry tomatoes
75g (1/2 cup) raw almonds
1 packed cup young basil leaves, plus a few leaves for garnish
3/4 cup (12g) lightly packed mint leaves (I used a mix of green and purple varieties), plus a few leaves for garnish
A handful of arugula leaves
2 small garlic cloves, peeled and cut into pieces
Fine sea salt and black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil

500g (1 lb) spaghetti (I used Faella)
Freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C).

2. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Cut an X on the end of each tomato and plunge them into the boiling water for about 1 minute, just enough to loosen their skins. Use a skimmer or slotted spoon to transfer them to a bowl to cool slightly.

3. Pour in the almonds into the same pot of boiling water and blanch for 2 to 3 minutes, just until their skins loosen. Drain and put them in a bowl to cool slightly.

4. Peel the skins off the tomatoes and gently squeeze out any seeds. Set aside. Pop the almonds out of their skins and spread them out on a small baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 7 minutes, just enough to dry them out and toast them lightly. They should not brown. Let cool.

5. Place the almonds, basil, mint, and arugula in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Scatter the garlic pieces on top and season with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt and a grinding of black pepper. Add the tomatoes and pulse to break up the ingredients. With the machine running, drizzle in enough olive oil to achieve a thick, nearly (but not quite) smooth paste. Scrape the pesto into a bowl and cover.

6. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and salt it generously. Drop in the spaghetti and cook, according to the manufacturer’s instructions, until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot and scrape in most of the pesto (reserve a few tablespoons) and a handful of Pecorino cheese. Pour in a splash of pasta water and toss vigorously to combine everything well. If the sauce is thick and clumpy, add more pasta water to loosen it up so that it coats the spaghetti evenly.

Serve with a dollop of pesto and a sprinkle of Pecorino cheese on top.