PISTACHIO PESTO ON BUSIATE

a love letter to the pistachio

I often muse over what might be my favourite nut, but it’s a hard call, without a clear answer. I dance around the idea of peanut, for the joy of peanut butter, pad Thai, satay sauce and a handful of salted peanuts with a crisp cold pint. Almonds: roasted, smoked, salted, dipped in dark chocolate, ground into butter and stuffed in a date. But then there is the pistachio, a chic little number if ever there was one. I have a lot of respect for the pistachio, it makes you work for it, plays hard to get, and gives you an activity while eating, cracking the shells and being rewarded with the sweet salty interior. The colour is also a real moment. As someone who sees life through a green lens, the pistachio nut feels like my spirit nut. Unable to land on a clear winner for my all time favourite, I have settled on the idea that maybe my favourite changes, depending on where I am in the world, almonds in Spain, peanuts in south America and the mighty pistachio in Sicily.

pistachio gelato, pistachio granita, pistachio pesto on busiate, pistachio cornetti

In Sicily you will find pistachio everywhere, in the cornetti, the cannoli, gelato and most excitingly in their pasta. Even the little pots of salted pistachios from the Co-op are more delicious than any you will find in the UK. I spent my time there eating as many as I possibly could and then made sure to bring a pack home with me. I ate a lot of delicious pasta, and I was particularly fond of the Busiate, a pasta shape traditional to Sicily, often served with pistachio pesto. I tried lots of different versions of the dish, some with prawns, seen above here with clams, often studded with toasted almonds, cherry tomatoes and sometimes even sultanas. The influence of the Middle East on Sicily is visible on all menus, and they are more delicious for it.

This weeks recipe is my home version of a Sicilian pesto, made with pistachios and some Busiate fresh out of a pastificio in Castellamare del Golfo. I think I enjoy this version of pesto more than any other and I hope you love it as much as I do!

Sending love, Rosie x

PISTACHIO PESTO ON BUSIATE

This recipe makes enough for almost double the pasta, because if you’re going to go to all the effort of making pesto, you may as well make a lot. So save the rest for sandwiches, eggs, another round of pasta, dolloped on top of pizza or tossed through a salad. It’s good on truly anything. You can easily make it vegan by leaving out the parmesan and supplementing with more nuts, but in my opinion, it would not be as delicious.

Serves 6

80g basil

300ml extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove

1 tsp sea salt

0.5 tsp cracked black pepper

150g pistachio nuts, shelled and unsalted, coarsely ground

150g parmesan, finely grated

100g flaked almonds

500g busiate, or your favourite shape of pasta

1. In a blender, or food processor, combine the basil, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper - until smooth.

2. Tip this mixture into a large mixing bowl and then fold in the ground pistachios and grated parmesan. Making the pesto this way ensures that you don’t get a too smooth, soup like consistency that you can sometimes get if you blend everything together in a high speed blender. I like a bit of texture to my pesto.

3. Toast the flaked almonds, in a dry frying pan, until golden brown.

4. Cook the pasta to al dente, I generally do 3 minutes less than the packet instructions.

5. Drain the pasta and toss half the pesto through, mixing thoroughly until it is well combined.

6. Serve a healthy plate of pasta, topped another dollop of pesto, a good grating of parmesan, the toasted almonds and along side a fresh tomato salad.