Name: Trofie al Pesto Genovese
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 37 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 350 g trofie; 200 g potato; 200 g green beans; 50 g basil; 20 g pine nuts; 1 clove garlic; 30 g parmigiano reggiano; 15 g pecorino; 80 ml extra-virgin olive oil; 0 salt

Trofie al Pesto Genovese

The signature pasta of Liguria: short hand-rolled trofie tossed with raw basil pesto, cooked in one pot with cubed potato and green beans the way they do it in Genoa.

🥬Vegetarian

🇮🇹 Italy ·Europe · $$

25 min Prep

12 min Cook

37 min Total

4 portions

Trofie al pesto genovese is the defining first course of the Ligurian coast, built around trofie, a short twisted pasta shaped by rolling small pieces of dough under the palm. The sauce is pesto genovese, made from Genovese DOP basil pounded raw with pine nuts, garlic, parmigiano reggiano, pecorino fiore sardo, Ligurian extra-virgin olive oil and coarse salt. The pesto is never cooked: it is pounded in a marble mortar so the basil is bruised rather than heated, which keeps its color bright and its aroma fresh. What sets the Ligurian version apart is that the trofie are boiled together with cubes of potato and pieces of green bean in the same pot, so everything finishes at once. The starchy potato helps the pesto cling to the pasta and binds the dish into one cohesive plate. A few spoonfuls of the starchy cooking water loosen the pesto to a glossy sauce just before tossing. It is served right away, warm, with extra grated cheese at the table.

Ingredients

350 g trofie dried; or 400 g fresh

200 g potato peeled, cut into small cubes

200 g green beans trimmed, cut into thirds

Pesto

50 g basil Genovese basil, small tender leaves, washed and dried

20 g pine nuts

1 clove garlic small, sweet

30 g parmigiano reggiano finely grated

15 g pecorino fiore sardo, finely grated

80 ml extra-virgin olive oil Ligurian if possible

0 salt coarse sea salt, a few grains

Ingredients

4 portions

Ingredients

350 gtrofie dried; or 400 g fresh

200 gpotato peeled, cut into small cubes

200 ggreen beans trimmed, cut into thirds

Pesto

50 gbasil Genovese basil, small tender leaves, washed and dried

20 gpine nuts

1 clovegarlic small, sweet

30 gparmigiano reggiano finely grated

15 gpecorino fiore sardo, finely grated

80 mlextra-virgin olive oil Ligurian if possible

salt coarse sea salt, a few grains

Instructions

Prep

1

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Meanwhile, peel the potato and cut it into small cubes about 1 cm thick. Trim the green beans and cut them into thirds.
~10 min
2

Wash the basil leaves gently and pat them fully dry on a kitchen towel, so no water dilutes the sauce.

Make the pesto

1

In a marble mortar, pound the garlic clove with a few grains of coarse salt until it becomes a smooth cream.
~2 min
2

Add the pine nuts and pound them into the garlic paste.
3

Add the basil leaves a few at a time, working the pestle in a circular motion against the sides of the mortar to bruise and tear the leaves rather than chop them, until you have a bright green paste.
~5 min
4

Work in the grated parmigiano reggiano and pecorino, then pour in the extra-virgin olive oil little by little, stirring until the pesto is smooth and glossy. Do not heat it at any point.

Cook and toss

1

Add the potato cubes to the boiling water. After about 2 minutes add the green beans, then 3 minutes later add the trofie, so everything finishes cooking together.
~10 min
2

Cook until the trofie are al dente and the potato is tender. Before draining, scoop out about half a cup of the starchy cooking water.
3

Scrape the pesto into a large warm bowl and loosen it with a spoonful or two of the reserved cooking water. Drain the pasta and vegetables and add them to the bowl.
4

Toss everything together off the heat, adding a little more cooking water if needed to coat. Serve right away with extra grated cheese.

Credits & Inspiration

Giallo Zafferano (InventaRicette)
Traditional Italian mortar-and-pestle pesto with Genovese basil, two cheeses, pine nuts, garlic and Ligurian oil.
Dissapore
Italian source for the fresh trofie dough and the classic raw pesto pounded in a mortar.
Inside the Rustic Kitchen
Ligurian recipe boiling trofie, potato cubes and green beans together and tossing with a raw basil pesto.
The Happy Foodie (Rachel Roddy)
Staggered one-pot method and pesto ratios from Rachel Roddy's A-Z of Pasta, with potato as a starchy binder.