How to make pesto alla siciliana (our way) using the leftovers of a tomato and mozzarella salad
This weekend we have been having a feast with friends and it occurred to me to prepare a tomato salad with mozzarella and basil oil . As I always overcook because I prefer to have leftovers before they are gone, I thought I would use those leftovers to prepare one of my favorite Italian sauces: pesto. But of course, you will say, and what does tomato have to do with pesto? well, as in many Italian recipes, they have their versions in the different regions of the country, and in Sicily, they have the pesto alla siciliana
It is said that the history of red pesto (Sicilian pesto) has its origin in the port of Trapani, when Genoese sailors from the East, were known by the islanders for their traditional pesto recipe made with walnuts and garlic (Ligurian garlic sauce). . The sailors of Trapani adapted this pesto using the typical products of their region. There are dozens of red pesto variants, as I said before, they depend a lot on the regions where they are made. In the past, this pesto was prepared with tomatoes, almonds and ricotta cheese. But since today we want to take advantage of a tomato and mozzarella salad that we already had prepared, we are going to change that version slightly and substitute the ricotta for the mozzarella, the result was delicious!
Ingredients
For the red pesto sauce (Sicilian):
- 250g cherry tomatoes
- 20g basil leaves
- 50 g ground almonds
- 70g mozzarella
- 50g Parmesan cheese powder
- 1 clove garlic
- 50g extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Pasta for 4 people (about 500 g)
Used material: Colorsteel stainless steel pot with removable lilac silicone handles. Stainless steel is a great investment for your kitchen as it is a material that can have a useful life of hundreds of years.
Preparation
- We start by putting the pasta to boil in a stainless steel pot respecting the cooking times of the brand.
- Meanwhile we are preparing our pesto: put the tomatoes, basil, garlic, mozzarella, Parmesan cheese and almonds in the container of our blender, blend for 1 minute and add the olive oil, salt and pepper, We crush again, rectify salt if necessary.
- Add a small glass of the boiling pasta water to the sauce to make it a little lighter and heat it at the same time.
- Drain the pasta when al dente and pour the sauce over it, sprinkle with a little Parmesan powder and serve.
- If you want, you can give it a touch of oven to gratin them, they will be even better.
