Recipe to be a good girlfriend (and make a trapanese pesto)

When you have an enthusiastic boyfriend you could be in surreal situations.

One day Giovanni said to me 'I've a news for you...'

Me: '...'

Giovanni: 'I have to cook a dinner for 40 guests'

Me: '???'

Giovanni : '...at Scurati Cave, only sicilian dishes...could you help me?'

Me: @_@....@_@....@_@

But...if your boyfriend has a Bed&Breakfast, this can't happen! He prepares only the breakfast! 

The real issue is that Giovanni is an enthusiastic guy. Everything begins with a group of people who wanted to take a holiday in Sicily. He recommends  places and typical foods but he's an unpretentious man, so he suggests, talks and then says 'Have a dinner all together!'. This is a very sicilian attitude and it's nice meeting new people and eating in company. Also when they say: 'He wants to come too, is there another spot?', yes, of course. 

'Listen, that dude has talked about his holiday in Trapani and the dinner which you're preparing to his sister. She wants to come too, can she take part with her family?' , yes, 

there are other spots. And once again, and again, do you remember those big parties during the high school period? An enthusiastic is a yesman and doesn't consider the effects at the moment. 

Here's why Giovanni had to become a chef. At the Scurati Cave, because the restaurant was too normal, the place is spacious and with a breath-taking view, perfect for a big friendly feast. And you had to help him. 

Well, but what could we prepare? The group was big, so we would have needed to cook something of fast, simple, good...and traditional. We had to agree everybody, vegans too, and this is a big problem, the vegan recipes have often the strangest ingredients. The answer appeared to be pasta with fried zucchini but the brilliant idea arrived: pasta with trapanese pesto! Fast, simple, uncooked (only the pesto), vegan and, above all, with terrestrial and sicilian ingredients!

Here the Recipe: Trapanese pesto

Sorry but there aren't exact quantities

- Fresh basil (my basil was exhausted after a photographic service lasted one hour but was fresh :P  )

- Olive oil 

- Sicilian almonds

- Tomatoes (Pachino or also the canned ones, please tomatoes, not sauce!)

- Red garlic from Nubia

- Trapani sea salt

- Pestle and mortar (if you are in vintage mood. You can use the less poetic blender but the pesto will have another texture, of course. The original one is made with the mortar. In the photos I used an old mortar in baked gres bought by my grandmother for my mother :-)

- One volunteer to procure all ingredients

Put the garlic, a pinch of salt and the basil in the mortar and press them turning the pestle into the mortar. Add oil to obtain a cream. Crush the almonds and put them with the garlic. At the end add the tomatoes cut before and oil. Let the pest rest while the pasta cooks :) 

My cool old mortar :-)

Trapani sea salt and "Red" garlic from Nubia

The result was full stomaches and large smiles, so it works! For this reason we have decided to replay the event, but this time we're teaching to you to prepare it, and we're eating the pasta with our pesto all together on the terrace, to be more comfortable and near the sea. Do you like this idea? So see you soon! :)

P.S. For more information about the workshop "Trapanese pesto" you can write to granveliero@gmail.com

P.P.S. (Here the photos of event :-)