This recipe has nothing to do with the Pesto Genovese, but it’s not less good 🙂

With “pesto siciliano” often  we refer to the recipe made with sun-dried tomatoes (delicious!), but also with good and ripe cherry tomatoes (it’s even more fresh).
There are different options, someone for example also use pine nuts…all are very good!

Another alternative is the “pesto alla trapanese“. which is similar but without ricotta. All are good if you have good ingredients.

Another good alternative in my opinion is to use the fresh mint instead of basil, I do it when it’s not yet the season of the basil in my garden, and I have to say that the mint makes it interesting too 🙂

Let’s see.

INGREDIENTS (2 people):

• 180 g pasta (I used eliche, but also fusilli, penne, ziti, rigatoni, etc. are good, but even spaghetti if you prefer, or even better Sicilian busiate)
• 250 g of ripe cherry tomatoes
• 80 g fresh ricotta
• 40-50 g of freshly grated pecorino cheese
• 25 g almonds
• extra virgin olive oil (a generous amount, what’s needed to obtain a nice creamy texture)
• fresh basil (or mint in this case)
• half clove of garlic (but I like it also without)
• salt

1. First of all cut in half the cherry tomatoes and remove the seeds, and then start boiling the pasta.
2. Take a high glass and put all the ingredients, and reduce it into a cream with an immersion blender. Don’t exaggerate with salt, pecorino is already savory.
3. When it’s missing just 3-4 minutes to the pasta to be cooked “al dente”, start warming the sauce into a pan, gently.
4. When the pasta is cooked, pour it in the pan with the sauce, add a little bit of its boiling water, and mix it at medium heat until you have it nicely creamy (about 1 minute is enough).
5. Serve it, add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, some more pecorino if you would like, and enjoy 🙂