Trenette fresche al Pesto alla Genovese – Fresh Trenette with Pesto alla Genovese
Trenette fresche al Pesto alla Genovese – Fresh Trenette with Pesto alla Genovese
By by Academia Barilla, adapted by the Sur La Table kitchen
Serves
Makes 10 servings
Ingredients
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26½ oz semolina
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8.8 oz Caputo 00 Flour
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10½ oz white wine
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3 large eggs
Trenette
Procedure
Trenette is a type of narrow, flat, dried pasta common in Genoa and Liguria. It’s a form of pasta similar to narrow, thick tagliatelle.
Mound the flours in the center of a clean work surface. Mix the flours together and make a well in the middle of the flours, add the white wine and eggs. Using a fork, beat together the eggs and begin to incorporate the flour starting with the inner rim of the well. As you incorporate the mixture, keep pushing the flour up to retain the well shape. The dough will come together in a shaggy mass when over half of the flour is incorporated.
Start kneading the dough with both hands, primarily using the palms of your hands. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky. Once the dough comes together in a cohesive mass, remove the dough from the work surface, using a bench scraper to scrape up all the dough. Lightly flour the board and continue kneading for 5 minutes. Continue to knead for another 3 minutes, remembering to dust your work surface with flour when necessary. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set aside for 20 minutes at room temperature.
Roll out the dough through a pasta machine into very thin sheets (If using an Atlas Pasta Machine, roll dough to number 5), and allow it to dry for five minutes bifore cutting it on a chitarra using the side for thin pasta.
Pesto alla Genovese
Ingredients
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4 cups fresh basil leaves, washed and dried thoroughly (pat them dry with a paper towel, if necessary)
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4 tablespoons pine nuts
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4 medium garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
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1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
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1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
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1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano to taste (a Fine grater works very well for this, because it grates the cheese so thin that it melts instantly when it touches the hot pasta or pasta cooking water)
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1/2 cup grated Pecorino (Romano or Sardo)
Procedure
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Place the basil, pine nuts, garlic, and salt in a food processor and pulse until pureed into a smooth paste.
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Transfer to a small bowl and stir in the olive oil until evenly mixed.
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Stir in the cheeses until mixture is homogenous.
Notes for serving: Cook pasta in salted boiling water. Be sure to retain a ladleful of the Trenette cooking water, and add a bit of the water to the cooked Trenette together with the pesto sauce, to thin it, melt the cheeses and help it to adhere to the Trenette.
