Pistachio and Mint Pesto Recipe
The combination of sweet pistachios together with bright mint and tangy parmesan creates a well-balanced taste. This pesto sauce marries perfectly with trofie, casarecce, penne or any kind of short pasta you prefer. (maccheroni).
Ingredients: (serves 4 people)
150g of Sicilian or Californian shelled pistachios
50g of mint
80g of parmesan
250-300ml of water
320g of durum wheat maccheroni (dried pasta) or fresh trofie.
4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
A handful of pistachios to decorate the finished dishes
Preparation:
Start by preparing the pesto. Rinse the mint leaves and take the leaves off the stems.
Then blend the water, mint leaves and pistachios together briefly.
Add the parmesan with a splash of extra virgin olive oil and continue blending until you have the perfect texture. Don’t blend it for too long making sure the pesto is not totally liquid, nor solid – somewhere in the middle is perfect texture.
When the pesto is ready, boil the pasta in well-salted water until it is al dente, then drain. (remember to set aside a cup of boiled pasta water)
Put the pasta in a mixing bowl together with the pesto (adding a tablespoon of boiled pasta water into the mixing bowl to enhance taste) and mix.
Decorate each dish with a touch of finely grated parmesan, some crushed pistachios and a tablespoon of finely chopped mint.
Note: If you have any leftover pesto you can use it with bread to make crostini!
Wine
We enjoyed with a Sicilian Malvasia white wine, you chose your preferred one.
Enjoy!
