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Red Pesto Pasta

Across Italy · No.82 / 103

Red Pesto Pasta

Red Pesto Pasta

Short pasta with a raw tomato, almond and Pecorino pesto, finished with stracciatella.

15 min · Difficulty ●○○○○

Meet the dish

A modern pasta with a red pesto of sun-dried tomatoes and nuts

Blend passata and drained sun-dried tomatoes raw with almonds, Pecorino, garlic, basil and oil. Use pasta water sparingly so the sauce lodges in a large tube's ridges, then add stracciatella and sliced almonds on the plate.

Pasta shapes to use

  • rigatoni
  • paccheri

Key ingredients

  • passata
  • sun-dried tomatoes
  • almonds
  • Pecorino
  • stracciatella

Follow the cooking scenes

  1. Red Pesto Pasta: Boil the pasta.

    Step 1: Boil the pasta

    Cook large tubular pasta and reserve some cooking water.

  2. Red Pesto Pasta: Blend the red pesto.

    Step 2: Blend the red pesto

    Process both tomatoes, almonds, Pecorino, garlic, basil and oil.

  3. Red Pesto Pasta: Set the texture.

    Step 3: Set the texture

    Add only enough pasta water to make a cohesive sauce.

  4. Red Pesto Pasta: Add white and crunch.

    Step 4: Add white and crunch

    Top the tossed pasta with stracciatella, sliced almonds and basil.

What to watch for

  • Drain the sun-dried tomatoes and season after adding Pecorino.
  • Keep stracciatella out of the pan so it remains a cool counterpoint.

What sets it apart

Compared with ricotta-and-fresh-tomato Sicilian pesto, red pesto is more concentrated and textural.