"" Writer's Wanderings: From Itally's N-West Coast - Ligurian Trofie

Monday, August 30, 2010

From Itally's N-West Coast - Ligurian Trofie


When we were in Italy in the Cinque Terre area this past June, we fell in love with a popular local dish, trofie with basil pesto. We found it in every restaurant although there was a little variation in each. One served the pasta and pesto with green beans, another with potatoes, still another with potatoes and green beans. They were all delicious. Being a fan of "traditional" tomato sauce, I was surprised to find that I liked the green basil pesto so much.

At home, I decided to make some for dinner and set out to see what it would take. Keep in mind, my best recipe for chocolate chip cookies comes from the Pillsbury dough boy in a plastic-wrapped package. I was overwhelmed to say the least by the amount of work that goes into the pasta making--and it doesn't use eggs! Any time I mixed water and flour together, it was to make homemade paste for crafts. I ruled out making the pasta and found something in the grocery store that resembled the trofie.

Next I looked up recipes for basil pesto sauce. Perhaps not quite as involved as the pasta but still a lot of work, time, and patience. Back to the grocery store. I found several packaged versions of basil pesto and picked one hoping it would not turn me against it.

To make it more of a dinner than an appetizer, I added mushrooms, onions, snap beans, and some cut up cooked chicken breast. See, I can cook when I really want to. It was almost as good as sitting in an outdoor restaurant looking out over the sea and enjoying the Ligurian creation. Almost.

For you adventuresome cooks, here are a couple of the recipes sites I found:
Trofie al Pesto
Fresh Basil Pesto

For you who are like me, here's a website to order your ready-made ingredients if your grocer doesn't carry them.
Ligurian products

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