Trofie with Basil Sauce
I am not a vegetarian. I do enjoy the taste of dead animals, but I do believe that knowing how to make great-tasting vegetarian food can be highly beneficial. It’s good for your health, and it means that if you do know someone who is vegetarian, it means you can still make them something delicious.
This dish features an eggless pasta called Trofie that is known for it’s short, twisted shape, it will be served with a basil sauce and some green beans for a dish that even myself as a carnivore would love.
Trofie might be one of the easiest pasta shapes you could possibly make as you don’t have to mess around with a pasta roller or even a knife to make this shape. I think that if you’re not familiar with fresh pasta but want to give it a go, this would be a good way to start.
Technically, this makes a vegan pasta dough, but…the sauce is going to have cheese in it, so perhaps this isn’t a vegan-friendly dish. It is certainly vegetarian-friendly. Well, no matter, because this dish is very simple to make, yet it tastes like a million dollars.
A humbling moment
Ok, look, I am not perfect. I never said I was.
The image on the left shows you what the Trofie pasta is supposed to look like, little mini corkscrew shapes, and on the right is the pasta I made. For some reason, I could not figure out how to get that corkscrew shape, despite my efforts. To me they kind of look like maggots.
But you know what? This brings up an important tip when it comes to home cooking, it doesn’t always have to be 100% perfect! So, a dish might not have that stunning visual appeal as you’d get in a restaurant, but sometimes, what matters most is that your dish tastes really good! While the shape of my pasta wasn’t on point, it still had the slight chew that I expect from fresh pasta and it’s small size was perfect for mopping up all of that wonderful basil sauce.
If I had a few days to practice, I’m sure I would’ve eventually nailed the shape, but for now, that effort wasn’t that bad.
Basil Pasta with Eggplant Sauce
Serves 4
(Note: if you don’t feel like making your own pasta dough or don’t have the time, then other small pasta shapes like small shells, rotini, or Gemelli will work well for this dish)
For the Trofie Pasta Dough:
14 oz (400g) of 00 flour (aka pizza flour), or all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (180ml) of boiling water, or enough to bring the dough together.
For the Basil Sauce:
2 tablespoons of pine nuts
1 plump garlic clove. (ideally, not one that has developed that little green bit on the inside or anima. Since the garlic will be mostly raw, that anima can cause heartburn and indigestion.)
5 tablespoons of good extra-virgin olive oil
5 ounces of fresh basil leaves
4 tablespoons of plain Greek yogurt (see note)
3 ounces of grated Grano Padano or parmesan cheese
3/4 ounces of grated pecorino romano
1/2 teaspoon of salt
For Serving:
5 ounces of green beans, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
Note: Classic recipes for this dish call for prescinseua (don’t ask me how to pronounce that), a type of cheese that has a ricotta-like consistency plus a mild tang. If you can find that cheese, have at it, but for the average American consumer, the yogurt is your best option.
Also, it’s because of this yogurt that, in my heart, I can’t call this sauce pesto. Although it has all of your classic pesto ingredients, it has the addition of the prescinseua/yogurt for some extra creaminess.
To make the pasta dough, measure the flour into a mixing bowl, then gradually add the boiling water. Stir the dough with a fork until all of the flour is moistened and the dough feels soft, but not sticky. (Sure, you could do this with an electric mixer with a dough hook attachment, but this way is more fun.)
Turn the dough out onto a floured workbench, then knead the dough until it’s smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, then let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
To make the Trofie, Pinch off pea-sized balls of the dough, then use the palm of your hand to roll the dough pieces outward to create a spindle shape. Pull your hand back diagonally across your body, pressing down gently but not firmly against the pasta with the edge of your hand. In the end, the dough pieces should resemble the shape of a corkscrew.
It takes a bit of practice to get the shape right, but you can use a bench scraper if it seems like your hands aren’t quite getting the hang of it. Of course, who’s going to care if you don’t get the exact shape? It’s still going to taste great!
Bring a pot of heavily salted water to a simmer. To make the basil sauce, combine all of the ingredients in a blender or mortar and pestle and blitz until smooth. Taste it, and adjust with salt if necessary. (You can also do this while your pasta dough is resting.)
Cook the pasta in the simmering water for 2-3 minutes, or until all of the pasta floats to the top of the water. Remove the pasta to a wide bowl with a slotted spoon. Cook the green beans in the same water for 3 minutes, or until bright and crisp-tender, then add to the pasta. Toss the pasta and beans with the basil sauce, and you’re done! There’s no need for additional cheese, trust me.
What amazes me about classic Italian food is the way that simple ingredients and techniques come together to form great-tasting food, and this dish is a perfect example of that.
The plump, tender pasta, the crunchy green beans, that creamy and flavorful basil sauce all blend together for a match made in heaven.
