Trofie al Pesto

Trofie al Pesto: Step by Step

Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.

1. Pound the garlic, pine nuts and salt to a paste in a mortar, then add the basil a handful at a time and grind against the sides until it is a green paste.

   Mark done

2. Work in both cheeses, then trickle in the oil, stirring rather than pounding. Keep it cool.

   Mark done

3. Bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil and add the diced potato. Cook 5 minutes.

   Mark done

4. Add the trofie and cook 8 minutes.

   Mark done

5. Add the green beans for the last 4 minutes, so everything finishes together.

   Mark done

6. Reserve two cups of the cooking water, then drain.

   Mark done

7. Take the pan off the heat, wait 30 seconds, then return everything to it with the pesto and enough of the hot water to make it flow. Toss hard and serve immediately.

   Mark done

Related guide: Ingredient substitutions.

Something wrong or unclear in this recipe? Report a problem with this recipe.

What Can Go Wrong

1. One pot. The potato starch is what makes the pesto cling.
2. Pesto off the heat, always. Basil goes khaki in seconds.
3. Keep back plenty of the cooking water.

Ingredient Swaps

• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

About This Recipe

Everything cooks in one pot and the starch from the potato is what lets the pesto cling — a pesto tossed through plain pasta slides off, where the same pesto loosened with potato-starchy water becomes a coating. The pesto itself is never heated. Take the pan off the heat, let it stop steaming for thirty seconds, then stir the pesto in; heat turns basil khaki and makes the cheese stringy.

What to Serve It With

A glass of Vermentino · Focaccia · Green salad

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Ciabatta, Citrus Fennel Salad, Fave e Cicoria.

Storing Leftovers

The pesto keeps 4 days in the fridge under oil and freezes for 3 months. The dish itself does not keep.

Trofie al Pesto Nutrition

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

Vegetarian when made with cheeses made without animal rennet in place of the parmigiano reggiano and pecorino.

Your notes on this recipe

Cooked this? Keep a note for next time

Your own rating out of 5

5 stars★ 4 stars★ 3 stars★ 2 stars★ 1 star★

Your note

Save note

Private to you: notes and ratings are saved in this browser only, are never sent anywhere, and other readers cannot see them.