Signature pesto with trofie pasta

Traditional Italian pesto is made with a mortar and pestle, rather than the modern-day food processor and many believe that the old-school method produces a far-superior pesto. Using a mortar and pestle crushes, rather than chops the pesto ingredients, allowing for the natural oils present in the basil and garlic to be released into the pesto and the hand-grinding slower process allows for a more textured and flavoursome result.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 20 g garlic cloves (about 7-10 depending on size)
• 20 g macadamias, toasted
• 20 g pine nuts, toasted
• Salt, to taste
• 60 g basil leaves
• 20 g pecorino cheese, finely grated
• 30 g parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 90 g extra virgin olive oil
• 250 g trofie pasta, to serve

Resting time: 5 minutes

Instructions

1. Slice the garlic clove in half lengthways and remove the core of the garlic. Repeat with all cloves. Blanch the garlic by placing cloves in a small saucepan of cold water, bring to a simmer and drain. Repeat this process three times. This will remove the harsh, raw flavour of the garlic.
   
2. Using an extra-large mortar and pestle, grind the nuts and garlic, crushing with the pestle with a circular movement to a thick paste. Add a generous pinch of salt and basil leaves and hammer, using a circular motion to scrape and crush the basil for about 15 minutes. Once the mixture has formed a thick paste, add the cheeses to the mortar and combine.
   
3. Use a spoon to gently mix in the olive oil – this will help prevent the pesto from oxidising.
   
4. Cook the trofie pasta according to the package instructions to al dente. Drain, then transfer the cooked pasta directly to the mortar and gently mix with the pesto. Serve directly from the mortar to serving plates.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.