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The Food Maven Diary
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Pesto Trapanese
This weekend’s farmers market will probably be the last gasp for vine-ripened, summer tomatoes, at least in these New York parts. Maybe there will be one week more. I’m expecting a freeze any morning now. It’s okay. I have been wallowing in tomatoes (and peppers) for two months now. It’s time to move on to butternut squash, I suppose. And I actually have a hankering for broccoli, which is looking very enticing, all purple and blue-green piled high on the farmstand tables, although I know I will be sick of it by January. Last week, a New Jersey-grown cabbage, another vegetable that improves as the weather grows colder, was so sweet I couldn’t stop eating it raw as I was shredding it for cabbage braised with a little Italian hot sausage (and a touch of tomato paste), a combination I put on macaroni.
Need I say that there’s nothing like new crop apples, whatever the variety?
But back to tomatoes. Here’s a little number I cobbled together recently: Lay sliced tomatoes on the bottom of a skillet. Arrange inch-thick slabs of cod on top of the tomatoes. I suppose other fish will do well like this, too. If they are very thin filets, fold them. Season the fish and tomato slices with salt and crushed red pepper to taste. On top of the fish and tomatoes, scatter sliced or coarsely chopped garlic. Drizzle olive oil over all. Add a few pinches of dried oregano. Cover the pan and let cook over medium heat. The tomatoes will turn saucy and the fish will be cooked in less than 10 minutes, depending on its thickness.
In the middle of the winter, when I have a hankering for fresh tomatoes – as opposed to the delicious canned ones, whose appeal and perfection as a base for tomato sauce I do not mean to diminish – I eat grape tomatoes. I might put them in a mixed salad and I even make sauce from them. There’s a recipe for Smashed Tomatoes in my upcoming cookbook, “The Southern Italian Table,” which heightens a winter tomato’s sweetness with slowly cooked chopped onion.
Even with winter grape tomatoes, the following Pesto Trapanese, from the westernmost province of Sicily, is delicious, but wait until you taste it with the tomatoes we have right now.
Trapani is in the gastronomic news lately because it is famous for its salt flats and Trapani sea salt is now one of those trendy ingredients for which fancy food stores charge a fortune. Take my word for it, although the salt is wonderful, it shouldn’t have to cost so much, and it truly doesn’t taste any more special than other sea salts. When I was in Trapani last year, I bought 1.1-pound (half kilo) bags for one euro each, then about $1.40. I recently saw it in my neighborhood for $5 for four ounces! Save your money.
PESTO TRAPANESE
Makes 3 cups, enough to sauce 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of pasta
In Trapani, the pesto it is traditionally served on a typical Sicilian pasta shape called busiati, which are long coils of flour-water dough (no eggs). Busiati are generally a fresh pasta, but they are, in fact, the inspiration for the factory-made, spaghetti-length spirals that are sold as fusilli, and that’s what I would serve this with. On the other hand, the sauce is also good with penne or ziti, or with thick spaghetti or bucatini (perciatelli). Sometimes the pasta is garnished with coarsely chopped almonds even though the pesto has plenty of almonds in it.
This is totally not traditional, but the sauce is also delicious as a topping for bruschetta, or to dress hard-cooked eggs and/or boiled potatoes.
6 ounces blanched almonds (1 1/3 cups)
3 large cloves garlic, peeled
2 cups firmly packed fresh whole basil leaves
1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1 pound very ripe tomatoes (can be cherry or grape tomatoes), washed
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
A few tablespoons coarsely chopped almonds (blanched or not), optional
In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the almonds and garlic. Process until very finely chopped, almost a paste.
Add the basil and salt. Process again until the basil is very finely chopped.
Add the tomatoes and oil and process one more time until the mixture is a fine paste. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if necessary.
To serve, toss hot, well-drained pasta with the pesto, garnishing each portion with chopped almonds if desired. Serve grated cheese on the side. I prefer pecorino, but Parmigiano is fine.
The pesto is best consumed the day it is made, but may be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.
