The pasta for pesto does not necessarily have to be Ligurian to make a great pesto pasta dish... but it certainly helps!
Liguria - and Genoa in particular - has a great tradition when it comes to pasta. Pasta is a speciality that the inhabitants of Genoa got to know first as traders in the Mediterranean of Sicilian Arab pasta and then as producers themselves. The local industry began to develop during the Middle Ages, driven by the monopoly that the merchants of the maritime republic held on the transport and sale of wheat from the Black Sea ports. At that time, pasta was simply seasoned with cheese or broth. Then in modern times with the arrival of the tomato, typical red sauces such as meat and mushroom tuccu were born. At the same time, the custom of a beaten mixture of garlic, oil and cheese was maintained, which over time, with the addition first of seasonal herbs, and then of basil, became what we now call Genoese pesto during the 18th-19th centuries. From that time on, pesto will become the most widely used condiment in the city.
All that remains is to learn more about (and taste!) the Ligurian pasta shapes that are recommended for pesto.
TRENETTE AL PESTO
Trenette are a long dry pasta format, similar to spaghetti but with an ovoid section. Everyone knows them by now, even those who have never been to Genoa. Thanks to the Pixar film 'Luca' directed by Genoese director Enrico Casarosa, trenette al pesto has become an international dish. The success for this dish was such that Pixar itself released its own recipe for trenette al pesto di Luca. These trenette are the typical trenette pasta seasoned with pesto, potatoes and green beans. The tradition of adding potatoes and green beans to pasta dressed with pesto is due to the seasonality of basil, which was not always available and therefore the pasta dish was made richer with vegetables.
If you want to try a typical Ligurian long pasta format instead, but fresh, then we recommend Genoese taglierini. Remember that when using fresh pasta, the sauce needs to be a little creamier, so thicken the pesto with a tablespoon of cooking water and, if you prefer, some oil.
Trenette avvantaggiate
Many people believe that the trenette seen here - with potatoes and green beans - are the "avvantaggiate" ones. In reality, 'avvantaggiato' means that the pasta dough is wholemeal. Since this pasta is traditionally seasoned with pesto, green beans and potatoes then this misunderstanding was born.
TROFIE AL PESTO
Another very famous pesto pasta is trofia, which forms an iconic combination with this condiment. Trofie is a short pasta format that has a twisted, curl-like appearance. They originate as fresh home-made pasta, typical of the towns of the Golfo Paradiso and its hinterland. This part of the Riviera del Levante begins right where the metropolitan city of Genoa ends. For a long time, trofie remained a family affair, and it was only in the last century that professional production with a mechanised system began, when dry trofie was also produced. From this moment on, trofie started to be spread to the rest of the region, becoming a typical Ligurian dish.
Trofie is made with wheat flour; there is also a whole-wheat version (trofie avvantaggiate) and one with chestnut flour. As with trenette, trofie are often served with pesto, potatoes and green beans.
There are trofie and troffie (gnocchi)
Trofie shares a name with Genoese gnocchi. In fact, it is believed that before the spread of trofie/trofiette outside the Paradise Gulf, troffie (with two effs) in Genoa were actually gnocchi, to be seasoned invariably with pesto. Genoese gnocchi are a fresh pasta: they are made with potatoes and are medium-sized.
LASAGNE AL PESTO
Rather than lasagne in Genoa, one should speak of 'mandilli de sea', which are still fresh pasta sheets but much thinner, so much so that they are transparent like 'handkerchiefs' (mandilli means exactly that). The mandilli are seasoned with pesto directly in the fiammenghilla, alternating a layer of pesto and a layer of pasta. The fiammenghilla is an elongated, oval-shaped serving vessel, typical for serving pasta in Genoa and Liguria. Instead of mandilli, however, slightly thicker sheets of pasta such as lasagne can also be used.
Remaining in the sphere of pasta with textile names :) in addition to mandilli (handkerchiefs) there are piccagge (ribbons). The piccagge are wide ribbons that are also made from chestnut flour, and in this case are called piccagge matte. A fresh pasta similar to piccagge matte but narrower are the batolli from the Val Fontanabuona, which are the width of tagliatelle (4 mm).
Can lasagne al pesto be baked in the oven?
When you read lasagne al pesto in a restaurant, it means it is not baked. Pesto lasagne made in the oven is a modern recipe. You have to be very good at preparing it because Genoese pesto, being made with fresh basil, suffers from heat and so the oven passage is certainly a delicate moment.
CROXETTI AL PESTO
Croxetti are a typical pasta from eastern Liguria, especially from Varese Ligure in Val di Vara. They have one of the most original shapes as far as pasta is concerned: they are thin discs on whose two faces are printed designs, as if they were real coins. Originally, these reliefs were customised for each family, which had its own mould. In addition to their aesthetic value, the designs on the pasta also have the gastronomic function of better picking up the sauce. Croxetti can be fresh or dry pasta.
These croxetti are not to be confused with corzetti della Val Polcevera, which are still a short pasta format but resemble butterflies: in appearance they resemble a full figure eight. The corzetti della Val Polcevera are served with tomato sauce (fatty mock sauce or meat sauce).
How to serve croxetti (other than with pesto)
Croxetti are excellent with walnut sauce or a pine nut and marjoram sauce. Red tomato and meat sauces can also be seasoned.
OTHER PASTA FOR PESTO
To complete our guide of the best pasta formats for pesto, we still need to mention a few more regional Ligurian pasta types. For example, testaroli are typical of Lunigiana (the easternmost part of Liguria) and are a cross between pasta and bread. Like bread, they are large disks of cooked, uncooked dough, which after cooking are cut into squares and quickly blanched, then seasoned and eaten as a first course.
One of the most characteristic Ligurian recipes is minestrone genovese: in this minestrone we find pasta but also pesto, a good spoonful per dish. For the pasta to be used for minestrone al pesto you can choose between bricchetti, which are 2 cm short spaghetti (the name means matchsticks), and scuccuzzu, balls of pasta related to cous cous and Sardinian fregola.
However, Genoese pesto goes well with everything, especially if it is as good as ours!
