Pasta of the Week 6: Busiate alla Trapanese 🧡

A delicious Sicilian classic

This week I made another fresh semola flour pasta. This time I made a Sicilian classic:

✨ Busiate alla Trapanese ✨

Busiate are a beautiful spiral pasta traditionally made by twisting dough around a thin rod—originally a buso (in Sicilian dialect), a stalk of grass. They come from Trapani, a port town in western Sicily. The spiral shape of busiate is perfect for the rustic texture and flavor of pesto alla Trapanese.

The sauce itself originates from sailors from Genova (the birthplace of pesto) traveling through Trapani bringing their traditional basil pesto with them. Sicilians made it their own by using local ingredients: tomatoes, almonds, garlic, basil, and cheese.

Although I don’t have access to the delicious sweet tomatoes of Sicily, this pasta still turned out great and I’ll be making it again! The sauce can be kept in the fridge for a few days and works well with other pasta shapes too.

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Score:
Flavor: 7/10
The sauce was light and flavorful but not as sweet as I hoped (my tomatoes weren’t the best). Despite this, it was still great and paired really well with the busiate.

Difficulty: 7/10
The sauce is simple, but shaping the busiate takes time and patience. It’s a lot of fun if you have the time!

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Ingredients (Serves 2):

For the pasta:

• 200g semola flour (1 ½ cups)

• 100g water (about ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp)

For the pesto alla Trapanese:

• ~10 cherry tomatoes (about 150g / 1 cup)

• 25g peeled almonds (3 tbsp) – I soaked them in hot water and peeled off the skins

• 30g fresh basil (1 cup, packed)

• 4 tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano (¼ cup)

• 1/2 clove garlic

• 10g extra virgin olive oil (2 tsp)

• Salt, to taste

Instructions (1 hour total):

1. Make the Busiate (40 minutes active):
   Mix the semola and water into a dough (knead ~10 minutes by hand). Cover and rest for 20 minutes. Break off small pieces, roll into 10-15cm ropes (4 to 6 inches), and twist around a skewer or chopstick to make spirals. Let them rest and dry slightly. I watched this video for inspiration. You can freeze the busiate for a few months if you don’t eat them all fresh.

2. Make the Pesto (15 minutes):
   Boil the cherry tomatoes for 10 minutes to soften. Soak the almonds in hot water for a few minutes and then peel then and roast them for 5-10 minutes in a pan. In a blender or mortar and pestle, combine tomatoes, almonds, basil, Parmigiano, garlic, olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Blend until creamy but slightly textured.

3. Cook and Combine (5 minutes):
   Cook the busiate in salted water until al dente (about 4–5 minutes if fresh). Drain and toss with the pesto, adding pasta water as needed to coat.

   
   Buon appetito! 🇮🇹🍅