
I love Italian food. Dare I say I love it almost as much as I love Korean food, and definitely eat as often as Korean food. Although I enjoy cooking Italian dishes, I am a little afraid of posting my recipes here. Italians are known to be very specific about their food, and many Italian people I’ve met over the years have proven that. So in order not to disgrace traditional ‘Pesto alla trapanese’ I have read and watched videos of many different types of recipes, from Nigella Lawson’s to a sweet Sicilian nonna’s. And after some researching and experimenting, I have come up with my favorite version, which is vegetarian without anchovy fillets and has no raw garlic. I know what you’re thinking, no garlic in pesto?? Believe me I have tried…I am Korean, I should be able to handle raw garlic, right? But sadly no…Raw garlic gives me a terrible heartburn every single time so after all the suffering I’ve decided to leave it out and use a little bit of garlic infused oil instead.
This pesto is made with ingredients that I always have in my fridge and cupboard. I usually whip it up in 5 minutes and serve with pasta on a lazy day. I have to say this is an almost embarrassingly quick and easy recipe, but the flavor will not disappoint you. I hope you like this as much as I do, but if you have time it would be worth doing your own research and experimenting to come up with your favorite version of Sicilian pesto.
Ingredients
- 400g. ripe cherry tomatoes
- 2/3 cup. almonds
- 3 tbsp. raisins
- 3 tbsp. capers
- 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp. garlic infused oil
- 60g. parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Toast almonds in a dry pan. Drain capers and set aside.
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz until it reaches the texture you desire. (If you can handle raw garlic unlike me, crush in 1-2 cloves). Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Then it’s done. Like I said, embarrassingly quick and easy…
I personally like this pesto with whole-wheat spaghetti and lots of freshly grated parmesan on top :-). It also goes really well with grilled chicken, or you could add a squeeze of lemon and serve with white fish.
Ooh I love homemade pesto, so much tastier than anything you can get in a jar! Also, the Sicilian combination of sweet and salty is always so good. I remember falling in love with it when I went to Sicily as a child. Nice recipe, Jin!
Awesome. So glad you like it. I totally agree with you, homemade pesto is so much better than store- bought one and it is so easy to do. Thanks Eli 😉
This sounds so delicious. I love whole meal pasta too .I will have to try it Jin 🙂
Thank you Yossra 😉 Hope you like it!
Love the originality of all your posts.. So refreshing and unique! This dish is so mouthwatering! 🍴☺
Thank you so much. I love adding my own twist when I create recipes, great to know there are people like you who appreciate it. Really means a lot!
Amazing photographs!!
Delicious recipe and beautiful photography, I will give it a go.☺
Thanks dear. Hope you enjoy !