Sicilian pesto: a traditional recipe
Sicilian pesto: a traditional recipe
A great classic, originally from Sicily, but enjoyed everywhere.
Equipment
- Blender
- Bowl
Ingredients
- 500 g coppery tomatoes
- 150 g fresh cow's milk ricotta
- 1 bunch of fresh basil
- 50 g pine nuts
- 100 g Parmigiano Reggiano
- 150 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic
- Salt to taste
- Pepper as needed
Instructions
- Wash the tomatoes and split them in half.
- Remove the seeds and squeeze tomatoes lightly to eliminate excess liquid.
- Wash the basil leaves and dry them gently with a cloth.
- Peel the garlic clove and split it in half.
- Place the tomatoes, basil and garlic into the blender. Add pine nuts, Parmesan and ricotta.
- Finally, add extra virgin olive oil and operate the blender intermittently, at minimum speed to prevent the basil from turning brown due to overheating of the blades.
- Turn off the blender as soon as you have obtained the desired degree of creaminess.
- Pour your pesto into a bowl and add salt and pepper to taste.
Sicilian pesto is a great classic of island cuisine. It is easy to prepare, ideal as a sauce for pasta, but also to top bruschetta and canapés. Here are some tips to help you do it right!
Sicilian Pesto: the importance of raw materials
Sicilian pesto does not require many ingredients, but if you want to obtain an outstanding result, make sure that their quality is top.
- Tomatoes: we recommend using coppery tomatoes. Their firm pulp and strong flavor, as well as their sweetness, make them the perfect solution for our pesto. If you don’t find this variety, you can use Pachino tomatoes.
- Basil: basil from Liguria is ideal for Sicilian pesto, It is very delicate and does not carry the slight mint flavor typical of other varieties. It can be recognized by its small, convex, oval-shaped leaves and its light green color.
- Last but not least, extra virgin olive oil: it is a fundamental ingredient that will blend all the other flavors and will give Sicilian pesto an extra touch of taste. We selected Olio Extravergine di Oliva il Casolare Farchioni Grezzo Naturale Biologico, produced from organic farming with olives grown, harvested and pressed in Italy. This unfiltered oil is characterized by a very delicate aroma and a slightly fruity taste, well suited to the preparation of Sicilian pesto.
Sicilian pesto: preparation tips
As we said, our recipe is very simple, and it would be a real shame to spoil it with a blunder. Here are some tricks to prevent this from happening.
- After removing all seeds – they would spoil the smoothness of pesto – squeeze tomatoes lightly to dry them up a little.
- Handle the basil leaves carefully, and don’t crumple them: they would lose their essential oils and hence their taste and flavor.
- Original Sicilian pesto is made with a pestle, but a blender will do, and actually will make it creamier. Set it at minimum speed and activate it intermittently, as overheating of the blades would brown the basil leaves.
Now that you know all the tricks for a Sicilian pesto which will delight your guests, we wish you good work and leave you to our recipe!
