Recipe: Trenette Avvantaggiate

Words by Belmond Editors
A perfect twirled mound of trenette pasta in a fresh, vibrant pesto sauce, served on a simple white plate, seen in close-up.

Simply made with green beans, potatoes and pesto, this comforting dish is one of the most traditional in all of Liguria.

The local ‘avvantaggiate’ pasta is the perfect shape to carry the flavours of home-made pesto. Fall in love with this traditional dish with a recipe from Corradi Corti, Executive Chef at Splendido, A Belmond Hotel, Portofino. With a glass of chilled Ligurian Vermentino, it doesn’t get more authentic than this.

Ingredients Serves: 4

  • 300g / 10 oz basil
  • 100g / 3 ½ oz Grana Padano cheese
  • 80g / 3 oz Fiore Sardo cheese
  • 125g / 4 ½ oz pine nuts
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 200ml / ⅘ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 200g / 7 oz of your home-made pesto from above
  • 320g / 11 oz trenette avvantaggiate pasta (if unavailable, use linguine)
  • 2 ½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 60g / 2 oz potatoes
  • 60g / 2 oz green beans

Instructions

Step 1 / 4

To make the pesto, wash and dry your basil leaves. In a mortar and pestle, grind together the oil, garlic, pine nuts and salt. Add the basil and continue. Finally, grate in both cheeses and mix.

Step 2 / 4

Cook the potatoes and green beans in boiling salted water until soft. Add the pasta and cook until al dente.

Step 3 / 4

Drain your pasta, potatoes and beans, retaining a little cooking water to dilute the pesto.

Step 4 / 4

Add your pesto with the olive oil and stir through to serve.

A chef makes Trenette Avvantaggiate on a sunny balcony with green beans, pesto and potatoes

Buon appetito!

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