Spaccatelle pasta with Sicilian sun-dried tomato pesto and burrata.
This sun-dried tomato pesto has a fabulous intense flavour which pairs deliciously with creamy burrata to make a dish you will fall in love with!
Ingredients
- 400 g pasta ( I used spaccatelle) you can also use other short pasta such as penne, rigatoni, fusilli etc
- 20 g almonds
- 20 g pine nuts
- 1 handful basil leaves
- 200 g sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- 1 garlic clove
- ½ fresh peperoncino (red chili pepper) optional
- extra virgin olive oil as required
- 30 g pecorino or Parmesan cheese grated
- 200 g burrata
- salt for pasta and to taste
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Add salt once it comes to the boil and bring to the boil again.
- Drain the sun-dried tomatoes from the oil and chop into pieces. (keep some oil if you want to use it in the pesto)
- Peel the garlic and cut in half. Remove the seeds from the peperoncino (if you are using it) and cut into small pieces)
- Dry fry the nuts until they start to brown (if using whole almonds they take longer than the pine nuts so put them in the pan first and add the pine nuts once the almonds start to brown slightly)
- Put the chopped sun-dried tomatoes, the almonds, the pine nuts, the basil, the peperoncino and the garlic into the mixer with a little olive oil and pulse a few times until the mixture breaks up tino small pieces.
- Add the cheese, more olive oil and a pinch of salt.
- Pulse again until the ingredients are grainy but not too smooth. You may need to add more olive oil to get the right consistency. You can also use a little of the oil the tomatoes were preserved in for a stronger flavour.
- Cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions on the packet. When it is cooked, save a cup of the cooking water and drain.
- Put some of the pesto into a frying pan and heat. Add some of the pasta cooking water to make the sauce more liquidy. Then add half of the burrata cut into pieces. Once the burrata is starting to melt add the drained pasta. Mix everything together well and serve with some extra pieces of burrata and sun-dried tomatoes. You can add some ground black pepper, more grated cheese and basil leaves if required.
Notes
If you can’t find burrata, you could also add some fresh ricotta to the dish (not to the pesto) or just eat it without.
You can serve sun-dried tomato pesto with other types of pasta. I would recommend short shapes such as penne, rigatoni, fusilli etc.
Like other kinds of pesto, this sun-dried tomato pesto can be eaten in different ways. It’s great served as a dip or on bread and can also accompany fish or meat. If kept in an airtight jar in the fridge, will last for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
Calories: 696kcalCarbohydrates: 89gProtein: 29gFat: 29gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 259mgPotassium: 1083mgFiber: 7gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 1080IUVitamin C: 51mgCalcium: 415mgIron: 3mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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Rachel Sapiano says
Thanks very much Jacqui. I have tried several of your recipes and they have always turned out very well. Looking forward to trying this one
Rachel says
Hi, this sounds amazing - like all your recipies . One question re the almonds - should they be blanched first? Thanks!
Jacqui says
Hi Rachel! I love this recipe, although I do need to update the post as it's an old one! The almonds need to be peeled so if yours have the skin you'll have to blanch them! Otherwise just toast them as in the recipe instructions. Enjoy!
Stephanie Pham says
Recently I had a trip to Venice and my son bought couple bags of pasta there, 1 of them is short pasta type. I wasn’t sure which sauce can go with this pasta and found this recipe, it is turned out too good, I think the almond and pine nut give a little of sweetness that give a good balance with tomatoes. This recipe is a keeper.
Jack says
Just whipped this up for the in-laws, Was a major hit!
I served with some toasted breadcrumbs and parsley for extra crunch and was brilliant. Thankyou for a new favourite In my repertoire 🙂
Jennifer Giordano imbroll says
This is delicious and amazing, the more simple the more tastier.
Thank you
admin says
Grazie di cuore as the Italians say Jennifer! I agree this is a wonderful recipe and I love the fact that the pesto can be used in other ways too! I hope you'll come back and visit again soon. I usually post 2 to 3 new recipes a week, so there's always some new pastaliciousness to discover! All the best from Verona! Jacqui
Amanda Wren-Grimwood says
I have to give
Amanda Wren-Grimwood says
I have to give
Amanda Wren-Grimwood says
I love making pesto but I've never made a tomato one before or one with almonds. There are so many flavours in this dish making the most out of local ingredients. Simple and perfect!
admin says
Grazie Amanda, there are a number of different tomato pesto recipes from Southern Italy, like pesto Trapanese which includes fresh tomatoes. Also delish. But, I think this is my favourite! I hope you'll give it a try! Greetings from Verona! Jacqui
Brian Jones says
Love the sound of this, we grow loads of tomatoes about 6 or 7 different varieties depending on the year and sun drying them is one of our favourite preservation methods. So definitely a recipe that will make it to our table in the near ish future, what could I use to sub for burata, sadly not something that has made its way to rural Hungary 🙁
admin says
Hi Brian, I'm thrilled you like this recipe and plan on making it! Having your own sun-dried tomatoes is going to ensure that it will be superlicious! As I mentioned in the recipe notes, you can replace the burrata with fresh ricotta or alternatively a very soft mozzarella. Maybe there's a Hungarian cheese that would work. In Serbia, they have kymak, which has a lovely buttery, creamy taste and melts well. Do you have something similar. If so, you could use that. All the best from Verona!
J.Scudamore says
Fantastic dishes
J.Scudamore says
Extremely Good,love your recipe.....
admin says
Grazie di cuore as the Italians say! I'm thrilled you like this recipe. Sun-dried tomato pesto is so good especially when paired with pasta and burrata! I hope you'll give this recipe a try and come back and visit again. I try to post at least 2 new recipes a week, so there's always something new! All the best from Verona! Jacqui