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Pesto alla Trepanese
Pesto alla Trapanese is my go-to when I want something bright and flavourful, but a little different from the usual basil version. I blend ripe tomatoes, almonds, garlic, basil, and parmesan into a rustic, slightly chunky pesto that’s full of Sicilian charm. It’s light, summery, and perfect tossed through pasta, spread on toast, or spooned over grilled veg. The sweetness of the tomato with the nuttiness of almonds makes this a beautifully balanced and easy sauce to whip up.
Ingredients
- 75g almonds
- 230g cherry tomatoes
- 30g fresh basil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 75g pecorino (or other hard Italian cheese)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Sea salt flakes
Instructions
- Add the almonds, cherry tomatoes, basil, garlic, Pecorino, and olive oil to a food processor. Pulse until well combined and forms a chunky, vibrant paste.
- Season with salt to taste.
Notes
- Pesto alla Trapanese is a Sicilian classic made with raw tomatoes and almonds instead of the traditional Genovese basil and pine nuts. It's fresh, bright, and perfect for summer.
- I use this food processor for making pesto. It handles the tomatoes and almonds beautifully without turning everything into mush.
- The texture should be chunky and rustic, not smooth. Pulse rather than running the processor continuously to keep some texture in the almonds and tomatoes.
- Cherry tomatoes are ideal here because they're sweet and have less water content than larger tomatoes. If you can find them, use the ripest, most flavourful tomatoes you can get your hands on.
- Traditionally, this pesto is made with Pecorino, but Parmesan or Grana Padano work just as well if that's what you've got.
- For the most authentic version, lightly toast the almonds in a dry pan first. It adds a lovely depth, though it's not essential.
- Fresh basil is key. Don't substitute with dried basil as the flavour won't be the same.
- If the pesto seems too thick, add a little more olive oil or a splash of pasta water when tossing it through cooked pasta.
- This pesto is best used fresh on the day you make it, but it'll keep in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to 3 days. The tomatoes will release water as it sits, so give it a good stir before using.
- Not ideal for freezing as the raw tomatoes don't hold up well after defrosting. The texture becomes watery and the vibrant colour dulls.
What I Cook With
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Amount Per Serving: Calories: 138Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 2.8gCholesterol: 9mgSodium: 264mgCarbohydrates: 3.5gFiber: 1.6gSugar: 1.2gProtein: 6.2g
“Never heard of this pesto before but it's a new favorite. Will definitely make again.”
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Pesto alla Trapanese
A Love Letter to Nigella (yet again)
If there is one thing that has never been missing from my fridge, it’s a jar of homemade pesto. No matter the week, no matter the season, there’s always something green and garlicky waiting patiently in a recycled jar, ready to be slathered on toast or stirred through pesto pasta. Over the years, the ingredients shift and change depending on what I have on hand, but the ritual remains the same. My absolute favourite version though? That would be Pesto alla Trapanese. It’s a bright and fresh Sicilian-style pesto made with basil, cherry tomatoes, garlic, and pecorino, and it’s one of those things that just makes everything taste better. Honestly, it’s one of the most-used sauces in my kitchen and probably the most summery pesto you’ll ever try.
I was first introduced to Pesto alla Trapanese thanks to Nigella Lawson, via her cookbook Nigellissima. If you’ve been around here for more than five minutes, you’ll know how much I adore her. The woman is poetry in a silk dressing gown. I love her stories, her aesthetic, her unapologetic sensuality when it comes to food. But here’s the thing – I never actually follow her recipes. Ever. It’s not a statement, it’s just a habit. I read them, soak in the atmosphere, and then veer off in my own direction. That said, her Sicilian pasta with a Trapanese-style pesto lodged itself in my memory, and I’ve been making it ever since, in my own little way. It’s the kind of recipe you commit to heart and then freestyle with a bit of kitchen intuition and whatever basil you managed to keep alive that week.
This pesto is also far less intense than your classic Genovese. It doesn’t overpower, instead, it has this mellow sweetness from the tomatoes, balanced by the saltiness of the cheese and the warmth of the garlic. It’s light, fresh, and somehow moreish in that summery, coastal way that makes you feel like maybe, just maybe, you could be on a patio in Sicily. I mean, I’ve never been to Sicily. That dream got postponed thanks to COVID and an ever-growing to-do list. But that hasn’t stopped me from daydreaming with every forkful of pasta tossed in this vibrant, velvety sauce.
The Everyday Uses
When I say I use this on everything, I mean it. Of course, it goes beautifully with pasta. But I’ve also stirred it through warm roasted vegetables, used it as a salad dressing base, and even spooned a dollop onto grilled chicken or fish. I’ve slathered it on toasted sourdough with a bit of ricotta or grilled haloumi. Once, when I was feeling particularly experimental, I mixed it into a batch of savoury scones. I wouldn’t recommend that last one. But the rest? Total magic.
It’s one of those recipes that plays well with others – it doesn’t demand attention but quietly elevates whatever it’s paired with. And because it’s tomato-based, it has a bit more fluidity than some of the oil-heavy pestos. That means it clings to pasta more delicately, almost like a silk slip rather than a wool jumper, if you know what I mean. It’s also less likely to punch you in the face with garlic breath, which is always a win if you’re planning to eat it before a Zoom call or a cheeky kiss.
And let’s be honest, having something delicious and homemade tucked away in the fridge makes life a little bit easier. It’s a ten-minute meal solution. It’s the secret sauce that makes leftovers feel special. And it’s one of those things that makes me feel like I’ve got my life together, even if the laundry’s been sitting in the machine for three days and I’ve forgotten to water the plants. Again.
Inspiration That Stays With You
I don’t know about you, but I collect inspiration like some people collect spoons. I’ve got old cookbooks, bookmarked websites, Pinterest boards I haven’t looked at since 2015. And every now and then, something sticks. Nigella’s Pesto alla Trapanese (from Nigellissima) was one of those sticky inspirations. I saw it once, back in 2013 on her show to accompany her book, and it’s lived rent-free in my kitchen ever since. It didn’t even matter that I never made it exactly as she did. The essence of the recipe lingered, and that’s the thing I love most about good food writing. It’s not always about strict instructions. It’s about ideas that give you permission to play.
Since then, I’ve tweaked the proportions, swapped ingredients depending on what I’ve got, and even tried roasting the tomatoes first. (That was delicious, by the way.) I’ve made it with different nuts, changed up the cheese, and occasionally added a splash of vinegar when the tomatoes weren’t quite sweet enough. It’s adaptable, forgiving, and endlessly satisfying. And it reminds me that good food doesn’t have to be complicated. It just has to taste good and make you feel something.
I think that’s why I’ve been meaning to actually write down my version of it for years. I kept thinking, “Do I really need to write it down? I just throw it together.” But then I remembered how much joy it’s brought me, how often it’s saved dinner, and how many times friends have asked for the recipe. It deserves a proper moment. So here we are. My Pesto alla Trapanese. Not quite Nigella’s, definitely not traditional, but entirely mine. And now, hopefully, yours too.
Ingredient breakdown
Almonds
Almonds replace the pine nuts you’d find in a classic Genovese pesto and are one of the defining characteristics of this Sicilian version. They add a slightly sweet, creamy richness that works beautifully with the raw tomatoes, and they give the pesto its characteristic chunky, rustic texture. For the most authentic result, lightly toast them in a dry pan first to bring out a deeper, nuttier flavour, though it’s not essential if you’re short on time. The key with the almonds is to pulse rather than blitz continuously so you keep some texture in them rather than grinding them into a paste.
Cherry tomatoes
Raw cherry tomatoes are what make this pesto completely different to anything else in this collection. They get blitzed in with everything else and create a fresh, vibrant, slightly wet paste that is closer to a raw sauce than a traditional pesto. Cherry tomatoes are the right choice here because they’re sweeter and have less water content than larger tomatoes, which means the pesto holds together better. Use the ripest ones you can find because the flavour of this pesto is entirely dependent on the quality of the tomatoes going in.
Fresh basil
A generous amount of fresh basil, and dried is not a substitute here under any circumstances. Dried basil tastes nothing like fresh in a raw preparation like this one, where there is no cooking to mellow it out. The basil brings the herbal brightness that stops this pesto from tasting purely like a tomato sauce and keeps it firmly in pesto territory. Strip the leaves from any thick stems before they go in.
Garlic
Two cloves of raw garlic, which gives the pesto a clean, sharp bite that suits the freshness of the tomatoes and basil. This is not a pesto that benefits from restraint on the garlic front. If you find raw garlic too aggressive, blanch the cloves briefly in boiling water first, but the punchy raw garlic flavour is very much part of what makes this a Sicilian pesto rather than a mild, crowd-pleasing dip.
Pecorino
Pecorino is the traditional cheese here and it brings a sharper, saltier, more assertive flavour than Parmesan. Given that this is a Sicilian classic, it’s worth using Pecorino if you can find it, but Parmesan or Grana Padano are both perfectly acceptable substitutes if that’s what’s in the fridge. Grate it finely so it blends smoothly into the pesto rather than sitting in chunks.
Extra virgin olive oil
Just two tablespoons, which is considerably less than most pestos, because the raw tomatoes bring their own moisture and liquid to the mix. The olive oil here is about richness and bringing everything together rather than being the primary emulsifier. Use a good quality extra virgin for the flavour. If the pesto seems too thick after blitzing, add a little more olive oil or a splash of pasta water when you toss it through cooked pasta.
Sea salt flakes
Added to taste at the end rather than going in with everything else, because the Pecorino brings its own saltiness and cherry tomatoes vary in sweetness depending on the season. Taste before you season and adjust from there. A light hand initially is always the safer approach with a pesto that already has a salty cheese doing a lot of the work.
Serve This With
- Tossed through hot pasta like busiate or casarecce
- Spread on bruschetta or stirred through gnocchi
- Dolloped on grilled fish or roasted Mediterranean vegetables
