Trofie are twisty homemade pasta strands made in Liguria from durum wheat and water. They match beautifully with pesto genovese, a thick paste that is so highly prized in the region, its name and production are regulated by government standards. Pesto genovese may consist exclusively of basil (from Liguria, naturally), extra virgin olive oil, pine nuts (or walnuts), parmigiano reggiano (or grana padano), pecorino (romano, toscano, sardo or siciliano), garlic, and salt. Nothing more, nothing less. The paste binds to the starchy pasta, creating the dreamiest harmony of flavors and textures imaginable. When I am in Rome, I get by with trofie and pesto from Elite, but nothing beats the real thing.
Nick Camerlenghi
April 4th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Elite the supermarket on Cavour or is that a restaurant you are talking about?
Katie
April 4th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Elite the supermarket. They have really really good pesto. Thick, not too much oil, coarsely ground cheese and pine nuts.
shayma
April 5th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
trofie are my favourite type of pasta. i first had this at maccheroni in rome. fell in love. the trofie you had with pesto looks so beautiful. how lucky that you got to have pesto in the land of basil! i like mine without any garlic in it. x shayma
Daily Food Photo: Cristalli di Zucchero
June 18th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
[...] night I had dinner at Food In Rome‘s place, a lovely spread of pasta al pesto with sun-dried tomatoes and baked calamari. Everything was delicious and the icing on the cake was [...]