My version of Sicilian pesto – ‘Pesto alla trapanese’

I love Italian food. Dare I say I love it almost as much as I love Korean food and definitely eat it as often as Korean food. Although I enjoy cooking Italian dishes, I am a little afraid of posting my recipes. Italians are known to be very specific about their food, and many Italian people I’ve met over the years have proven that theory. 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. 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 has given me some terrible heartburn lately so after careful consideration 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 it 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 it with white fish.