Pesto with trofie pasta

We just had the good fortune of discovering a small food, cheese and wine shop in the Potrero Hill section of San Francisco where we were able to buy authentic trofie pasta from Italy. There are certainly other shops in the U.S. where trofie can be found, but we had been carrying ours back in our suitcases, buying it at Carlucci's in Covent Garden in London. So this was an important find! The trofie we purchased in San Francisco is Saporia di Liguri, from La Bella Angiolina, made in a facility near to the original location of the oldest pastificio in Italy (so they claim) in Savona, in the heart of the Ligurian Riviera.

Trofie, or troffiette, are thin strings of pasta, about one to two inches long, twisted into a corksrew shape.They are generally made with hard durum wheat flour, but can be made from all-purpose flour. Trofie or troffiette are frequently called Ligurian gnocchi.

They are a perfect pasta with pesto (as is trenette). Here is the recipe for simple trofie and pesto. The next posting will be for the other Ligurian staple, trenette or trofie, with pesto and string beans and potatoes.

for the pesto sauce:

• two cups fresh basil leaves
• one-half cup olive oil
• three cloves garlic, peeled and roughly diced
• two tablespoons pine nuts
• salt (a teaspoon or to taste)
• one-half cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• two tablespoons freshly grated Pecorino, either Romano or Tuscano
• two tablespoons butter

for the pasta:

• one pound of trofie (durum wheat preferred)

using a blender (pesto was traditionally made in a mortar with pestle but a blender works excellently), put in the basil and garlic and mix for a few seconds. Then add the pine nuts and olive oil and salt, and grind at a high speed until the sauce approaches being creamy (not too much, however, as a little roughness in the texture is wonderful).

When the blending is completed, transfer the sauce into a mixing bowl and stir in the two grated cheeses.

Cook the pasta in plenty of water, until it is al dente, stirring the pasta regularly.

Drain the pasta, and toss it with the pesto sauce. Add the butter and a tablespoon of hot water to assist in the tossing and mixing. Serve!

Spaghetti with clams (con vongole)

Classic pastas are frequently the best comfort foods; most of us have our favorites to fall back on when comfort is required. One of our favorites is the simple spaghetti alle vongole, spaghetti with clams in their shells. I first had this classic version on my initial trip to Venice in the late sixties, at Trattoria alla Madonna, near the Rialto. Now the tradition on every visit to Venice is to have our first lunch, at Trattoria alla Madonna, of spaghetti con vongole.

for the sauce:

• 50-60 small clams, Manila preferred
• six tablespoons olive oil
• one tablespoon chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley
• one tablespoon chopped garlic
• one-half teaspoon red pepper flakes
• salt
• one-third cup of dry white wine
• two tablespoons butter

for the pasta:

• one pound of spaghetti, spaghettini or linguine

Wash your clams: let them spritz in cold water for 5-10 minutes. Throw away any clams that are open at this stage (just get rid of them). Rinse the remainder in another bath of cold water, doing a little hand scrubbing if necessary.

Use a pan or skillet that is large enough to hold the sauce and the spaghetti when finished. Put in the olive oil and garlic. Medium heat. When the garlic starts to sizzle, add the parsley and the red pepper flakes.

Add the clams (carefully). Add salt. Add the wine. Stir gently. Smell; when you no longer smell alchohol odor emanating from the pan (10-15 seconds), cover. The clams will steam open.

After a few minutes, start the clam checking process. Look under the cover and see how the clams are doing. Stir very gently. When all the clams have opened, remove the pan from the heat. (be reasonable: sometimes there will be clams that do not open, ever. Don't wait too long. Just stop and throw those clams away).

Cook the pasta short of al dente. One can say a minute before al dente, but you have to get your own feel for this. Drain well.

Put your pan back on medium heat; add the pasta; cook until the fluid reduces, but not entirely. The remaining broth is a special treat). By this time the pasta should be a perfect al dente. Stir in the butter. Serve immediately (with some crusty bread to dip in the broth!).