Trenette

with Pesto Genovese and Prescinseua

• • • Makes 4 main-dish servings • • •

I was surprised, on a recent trip to Genoa, to find many restaurants offering pesto with gnocchi or trofie, small, squiggly pasta. When I was growing up, pesto was almost always served with trenette—noodles about the width of linguine but slightly thicker in breadth. I happen to love the combination of the silky noodles and creamy sauce, especially with tangy prescinseua cheese stirred in, so I’m sticking with it here. But you should know that the ricotta gnocchi on page 215 also pair beautifully with this pesto.

Kosher or sea salt

Homemade Pasta dough, cut into trenette (page 138) or 1 pound (454 g) dried spaghetti or linguine

⅔ cup (150 g) Classic Pesto Genovese (page 171) at room temperature

½ cup (113 g) Ligurian Prescinseua (page 204) at room temperature, or Buttermilk Ricotta (page 203) at room temperature; or substitute high-quality store-bought ricotta

Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for serving

1 • Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and salt it generously. If you’re using fresh pasta, have all your other ingredients ready, as the pasta will cook quickly.

2 • Gently drop the pasta into the boiling water, and use a pasta fork or a serving fork to swirl the noodles around. Cook fresh pasta for 3 to 5 minutes, until tender but not too soft (taste one to check). If using dried pasta, cook according to the package instructions until al dente.

3 • Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot and add all but a couple of tablespoons of the pesto. Toss gently until the noodles are well coated. Add the prescinseua and toss again to incorporate the cheese.

4 • Divide the noodles among warmed bowls and spoon a little of the remaining pesto on top of each serving. Serve with Parmigiano on the side.