When fresh basil is out of season or hard to find, I love to make pasta with rocket pesto. Rocket (arugula) has a slightly peppery and stronger flavour than basil. But, the pesto is equally delicious and just as easy to make!
Pesto recipe:
•Add rocket and peeled garlic to food processor with a little olive oil. Pulse intermittedly until you have a rough paste.
•Add the cheese and pine nuts. Pulse some more until pesto is right consistency.
•When your pesto is ready transfer it to a bowl or jar. Seal and keep in the fridge until ready to use.
Trofie are short twisted spirals of pasta from Liguria, the Italian region which gave us the traditional basil pesto Genovese! instead of making them you can buy them, fresh or dried, in any shop that sells Italian food products. What is certain is that handmade trofie have a completely different flavor! This pasta pairs superbly with pesto because the sauce really adheres to the pasta. However trofie are not the only pasta Italians eat pesto with. Spaghetti is, of course, a popular choice but so too is fusilli, maccheroni, gnocchi, trenette, casarecce and mezze penne.
Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of water to the boil; add the salt and bring back to the boil. Pour in the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente.
Assemble and serve. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta
cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot. Ladle in the desired amout of pesto to coat the pasta, adding pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce.
Serve family style, piled on one serving dish. Carefully place the ball of burrata on top, drizzle with olive oil and crack over some black pepper.