Cinque de Terre's Ligurian Trofie al Pesto is a delicious homemade twisted crescent shaped pasta tossed with an easy basil pesto sauce. The texture of trofie pasta is addictively chewy, fun to eat and they are the perfect vessel to hold on to that classic Genovese pesto.
It’s the BEST Italian comfort food. Learn how to make trofie pasta from scratch today with our easy step by step instructions and video guide.
Unique Ligurian Pesto
This Italian recipe is unique because of a secret ingredient added to the fresh basil pesto sauce - BUTTER. Yes, butter! During our explorations of the Liguria region, a little mom and pop restaurant explained the secret to a rich and delicious pesto is the addition of their hand churned butter. After lots of recipe testing, we nailed it and can’t wait to share it with you.
Perks of Homemade Pasta Noodles
There is something very therapeutic about making homemade tagliatelle, ravioli and trofie pasta by hand. The process of mixing, kneading, and rolling the dough allows you to be present in the moment, slow down and reconnect with family and friends. Not only is this recipe therapeutic, but its simplicity is delicious. Join us and learn how to make a classic Italian recipe your family will want on repeat.
Ingredients Trofie Pasta
- Flour – You can use all-purpose flour – but if you happen to have extra fine 00 flour or semolina flour – even better.
- Salt
- Cold water
Homemade Pesto Ingredients
- Fresh basil leaves
- Pine nuts – toast them first to make the sauce extra nutty and delicious.
- Garlic – but of course, right?
- Parmesan Cheese – the King of Cheese
- Butter – grass fed is best.
What is Trofie Pasta?
Trofie pasta, sometimes also called trofiette, originated from the Northern Ligurian region of Italy. It’s a short wheat based twisted pasta noodle with tapered ends. We think they kind of have the same shape as a skinny twirly Cheetos or a well defined German spaetzle noodle. Ok, that might be a stretch, but you get the idea.
Have you ever noticed that the shape, thickness, and ridges can affect how effectively pasta can hold on to any sauce? Take for example our saucy sausage pasta. The paprika tomato sauce just clings into every crevasse of the fusilli noodle.
The pressing and rolling movement of making the trofie noodles by hand creates these little curves. These little curves love holding on to sauce. Oh, my goodness trofie al pesto – it’s so good.
How to Make Trofie Pasta?
- Mix flour with salt in a bowl. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the water. Slowly mix until the dough pulls together.
- Knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth.
- Form the dough into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- On a floured work surface, flatten the dough to about ¾ of an inch thick with your hands or a rolling pin.
- With a knife or a pastry cutter, cut dough into long vertical ½ inch slices.
- Use your hands to roll the dough into an approximately 12–16-inch length of rope. Repeat with the remaining slices of dough.
- Cut the dough ropes into small pieces. (approximately the size of the last joint of your index finger)
- Place one of the small dough pieces in the palm of your less dominate hand.
- Gently roll your dominant hand, with your fingers starting in the wrist area over the pasta and shape into a crescent trofie shaped pasta. (I usually run my hand over the dough piece twice to achieve a 2-inch pasta that is thin on the edges and a little thicker in the middle. (Check out our video in the recipe card to watch this in action.) Repeat with the remaining dough slices.
- Boil ¼ to ½ of the fresh trofie pasta at a time in well salted water. Depending how large you rolled your pasta it will take between 1-3 minutes to cook your pasta until a firm al dente. Your pasta will float up to the top and you will know that is nearly cooked.
- Remove and drain pasta from water and set aside. Repeat with a second batch of pasta.
How to Make Basil Pesto?
- Add fresh basil, toasted pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, garlic, melted butter and extra virgin olive oil into a food processor or high-speed blender and blend until smooth.
Putting it all Together: Trofie al Pesto
- Place a little dab of butter into a skillet and add the trofie pasta until warmed.
- Turn the heat off and toss with the homemade basil pesto.
- Top with extra Parmesan cheese and enjoy.
Recipe Tips
- Make sure you salt your pasta water well. As the noodles only cook for about 3 minutes or until al dente, it does not absorb much of the salt flavor.
The perfect ratio of pasta to water to salt is 5 quarts of water: 1 pound pasta: 2 tablespoons of sea salt.
- When your noodles float up to the top of the pot, it is a sign they are close to being cooked.
- Recruit help in hand rolling your pasta if you want to eat sooner. (Kids love helping. Adults are even more productive if you hand them a glass of wine to help with their creativity)
- Try your pasta with a sun-dried tomato pesto, spinach pesto or even a walnut pesto- super delicious.
- Reserve a little of the pasta water to adjust the consistency of the sauce.
- Sometimes this recipe is made with the addition of green beans and/ or sliced potatoes. Both are a delicious addition.
- You can also make your trofie pasta in advance and let it dry. However, you will need to increase your cooking time. Fresh is always best.
- Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil on the trofie al pesto – right before serving.
No Special Tools Needed
You can make this type of pasta at home without any special tools. All you need is flour, water, salt, and little Italian love. Trofie al pesto is a fun and interactive recipe that you can do with children as small as 2 years old or over 98 years young. Like our timpano pasta dome, rolling hand made pasta can be a little time consuming but so much fun. Having a few extra hands to help, makes teamwork – dreamwork!
You are going to want to recruit their help in hand rolling the pasta. It is not hard to do. If you have ever played with play dough, you have a head start on the whole process. Maybe your kids will do better than you!!!
Cinque de Terra
Our travels to Italy took us to the beautiful destination of Cinque Terre which is located on a rugged portion of coast on the Italian Riviera. It is in the Liguria region of Italy just to the west of the city of La Spezia. "The Five Lands" is composed of five villages: Monterosso al Mare,Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.
The coastline, the five villages, and the surrounding hillsides are all part of the Cinque Terre National Park. Cinque Terre is stunning and is a must do if you happen to visit this region. During your visit, don’t miss out on your opportunity to try THE LIGURIAN specialty – Trofie al Pesto!
Vegan or Gluten Free Options?
For gluten free options, exchange wheat-based flour with a gluten free artisan blend flour. Many of these are cup to cup. For example, the Better Batter brand of artisan flour blend contains Rice flour, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, potato flour and xanthan gum.
If you want to make your pasta vegan, just do not add parmesan cheese or butter. Instead, swap out EVOO or plant-based butter for regular butter. Add a few more pine nuts, salt and pepper or exchange with nutritional yeast to give it that flavor profile you desire. The flavor profile is changed but if you are lactose intolerant- you must do what you need to do.
How to Serve?
Prima (first course) – serve trofiette pasta as the “second appetizer” but not the main. You may consider following with our red snapper packets along withside salad with a lemon balsamic vinaigrette and a tiramisu cups for dessert. Don’t forget the limoncello or grappa at the end of the meal.
Side Dish – along with stuffed patty pan squash for a delicious vegetarian meal.Try pesto pasta on the side of our stuffed prosciutto chicken.
Vegetarian Main Dish – serve with roasted fennel and carrots and focaccia bread.
Frequent Asked Question
There are several different hacks to try to keep your basil pesto bright green in color.
1. Blanch the fresh basil leaves for 3 seconds and then plunge into an iced cold bath. Wring to remove water and proceed with pesto recipe.
2. Freeze the blades of the blender or food processor. This keeps the basil from getting warm and thus reduces the oxidation.
3. Avoid over processing the basil leaves. Only blend the pesto for short bursts to prevent the motor on the food processor from getting warm. We have better luck keeping our pesto bright green with our high-speed blender.
4. Add a layer of extra virgin olive oil on top of the fresh basil pesto to prevent the basil leaves from oxidizing.
5. Refrigerate the pesto promptly after blending if you are not going to use it right away.
More Pesto Recipes
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Trofie al Pesto
Equipment
- food processor or high powered blender
Ingredients
Trophie Pasta
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
or 00 Flour - 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cold water
Homemade Basil Pesto
- 2 cups basil leaves
fresh - ¼ cup pine nuts
toasted - 2 cloves garlic
peeled - ½ cup Parmesan cheese
grated - ½ cup olive oil
- 4 tablespoons butter
melted (yes! butter in the Pesto that is the Ligurian way and their special secret for deliciousness) - Salt to taste
- ½ ladle Pasta water for thinning the sauce
- Extra butter for frying up and the finishing touches to the Ligurian Trofie al Pesto (We did not say this dish was low calorie but it is amazingly delicious)
- Parmesan cheese Garnishes (optional)
- basil fresh garnish - optional
Instructions
Homemade Trofie Pasta
- In a large bowl mix flour with the salt.
- Make well and add the water in the well and mix slowly with a fork.
- When the dough mixture is pulled together start mixing the dough with your hands until well incorporated. Check the dough for consistency as it should feel slightly tacky but your finger should come back clean when you push it in the dough. Add more flour if too wet and if too dry start to knead dough and see if the natural moisture from your hands will convert the dough and if not can add a little drop of water.
- Place a little dusting of flour on your wooden board and knead the dough for at least 8-10 minutes or until the dough is very smooth. Nice and easy kneading and turn your dough with each press. This is a very important step in the process to activate the glutens in the dough and give your pasta that very delicious texture.
- Form your dough into a ball or disk shape and dust flour on top and bottom of dough and wrap tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour or even overnight.
- Form the Trofie Pasta: Sprinkle your work surface and your plates that you will be placing your formed Trofie pasta on with flour. Pat or roll the dough to about ¾ inch thick.
- Cut dough into approximately ½ inch slices with a knife or pastry cutter. Roll the dough slices into a rope about ¼ inch in diameter with your hands. (Make sure that your cover the remaining dough back up with plastic wrap so it does not dry out.) Repeat this process with the remaining slices of pasta dough.
- Now cut the rope horizontally into little sections about ¼ inch in size or even smaller if you can. We made ours about the size of a pencil eraser or just slightly larger.
- Take one piece of cut dough into the palm of your hand and roll in one direction from bottom of palm up to the top of your fingers. Now you should have created this adorable little crescent pasta shape. Repeat this process until you have made enough Trofie pasta to feed enough for your family/friends. Place your completed little Trofie crescents shapes on the well floured plates.
Make Basil Pesto
- Place fresh basil, toasted pine nuts, garlic, parmesan cheese in blender or food processor and blend. Slowly add the oil in and continue to blend.
- Add the butter a little at a time to the food processor and keep blending until creamy and smooth. Taste and season with salt as required.
Cooking Trofie Pasta
- In a large pot bring at least 4 quarts of water to boil. Salt well as this gives flavor to the pasta.
- Once the water is at full boil, slowly add about ¼ -½ of the homemade pasta at a time to the water. Depending how large you rolled your pasta it will take between 1-3 minutes to cook your pasta until a firm aldente. Your pasta will float up to the top and you will know that is nearly cooked. Just simply test a pasta to confirm if al dente.
- Remove and drain pasta from water and set aside. Repeat with second batch of pasta. (I did it in separate batches as it is easier to manage this way and it does not drop the temperature of your water so much doing small batches at a time.)
Final Assembly
- In a large frying pan, place a large knob of butter and add your cooked Trofie pasta. Next add about ½ to ¾ of your delicious Ligurian Pesto, ½ ladle of your pasta water and delicately stir until well incorporated.
- Place your delicious Trofie al Pesto in bowls and garnish with a grating of fresh Parmesan Reggiano and a sprig of fresh basil. Drizzle with a little EVOO oil and Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Make sure you salt your pasta water well.
- When you noodles float up to the top of the pot, it is a sign they are close to being cooked.
- Recruit help in hand rolling your trofie pasta if you want to eat sooner. (Kids love helping out, adults are even more productive if you hand them a glass of wine to help with their creativity)
- Try your trofie al pesto with a roasted red pepper pesto, spinach pesto or even a walnut pesto- super delicious.
- Thin the Basil pesto sauce with a little reserved pasta water.
- Sometimes this recipe is made with the addition of green beans and/ or sliced potatoes. Both are an a delicious addition.
- You can also make your trofie pasta in advance and let it dry. However, you will need to increase your cooking time. Fresh is always best.
- Blanch the fresh basil leaves for 3 seconds and then plunge into an iced cold bath. Wring to remove water and proceed with pesto recipe.
- Freeze the blades of the blender or food processor. This keeps the basil from getting warm and thus reduces the oxidation.
- Lastly, avoid over processing the basil leaves. Only blend the pesto for short bursts to prevent the motor on the food processor from getting warm. We have better luck keeping our pesto bright green with our high-speed blender.
- Add a layer of extra virgin olive oil on top of the fresh basil pesto to prevent the basil leaves from oxidizing.
- Refrigerate the pesto promptly after blending if you are not going to use it right away.
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
I hod Trofie al pesto in Italy but I've never made it...good for you for making it from scratch. It looks very similar to what I had but mine had green beans in it.
HWC Magazine says
How fun! So happy to hear that you had trofie pasta in Italy. Yes, trofie al pesto is commonly prepared with green beans and potatoes too. We opted for the plain version to keep the whole family happy. Take Care
Hannah says
Foolproof dish for utter deliciousness. It's the best shape with the best sauce! What an incredible indulgence!
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Hannah! Trofie pasta is so fun to make and shape with family and friends. There is something so special about sharing that time together in the kitchen.
Liz says
Mmmmm....pesto with butter sounds divine! And on homemade pasta???? I'm ALL in!
HWC Magazine says
Thank you! You can't go wrong adding a little butter in a recipe - even Julia Childs would agree. Come soon the trofie pasta has a way of disappearing fast.
Jake says
This is excellent -- it makes me so hungry to see it.
Perfect dish. More like this please.
HWC Magazine says
You are so sweet. Thanks so much Jake. Trofie al pesto is a great recipe to make with family and friends as it is fun shaping the pasta.
Gerlinde says
Many years ago I traveled through the Cinque de Terra and loved it. Your pasta looks delicious and reminds me of a German noodle called Spätzle. What a great post and the photos are stunning.
HWC Magazine says
Hiya Gerlinde! Cinque de Terra is a beautiful place. Could have stayed in that area for much longer. Love Spätzle and make this for the family often too. Trofie pasta has a little different texture. It is a bit lighter than Spätzle and you have to hand roll instead of through the Spätzle press. However, if you grilled up lots of onions in butter and tossed in the trofie pasta it would delicious too. Hope you are staying well dear friend.
lapetitecasserole says
Looking at your beautiful pictures I've realized how much I miss my country... Trofie al pesto, what else? soooo good!
ioanna aggelidaki says
Awwwwww looks good....... pasta.......
Healthy World Cuisine says
I just crave some warm and cozy meals when the temperatures start to cool off. This dish fits all of those criteria and then some. Give it a try. Take care, BAM
ioanna aggelidaki says
I love pasta and this looks delicious! I will definitely give it a try Bam! 🙂
Healthy World Cuisine says
A great pasta for anyone to try for their first time. It is really easy to make and even my teenagers were pros after making just a couple of the noodles. Have fun and take care this holiday. BAM
petit4chocolatier says
Wow, love the pasta! Beautiful photos!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thank you. Cinque Terre area is a beautiful place.