Trenette with Pesto Genovese, green beans, and potatoes are having a moment. Attenzione, it’s not because most ingredients of this quintessential Ligure dish are in season right now. We have to thank Pixar’s spanking new movie Luca, for the debut of Trenette in the world.
It wouldn’t be an animated version of Cinque Terre without a true friendship, the summer glow of the seascape, and of course the Italian rituals of food. And nothing says summer in Liguria more than sitting down in front of a rich plate of Trenette al Pesto!
Now you’re asking: what are Trenette, anyway? Italy is all about regional variations: regional dialects, regional recipes, regional habits. The one thing that gets the most regional swing are pasta names. Third generation pasta maker Sergio Faella reassured all our doubts on this: Trenette are the exact twins of Linguine. Same pasta shape, different names in different regions. So, if you’re looking to have a bowl of Pasta al Pesto, just like Pixar’s Luca, go for Faella Linguine Trenette.
What matters the most is Trenette al Pesto cooking process: add your pasta to boiling water, after a few minutes drop in string beans and potatoes, cook all the ingredients together, and toss them all together in pesto sauce. The string beans, with their sweetness, will balance out the richness of pesto, while the starch of the potatoes will create a creamy sauce that holds all the flavors together. Tune in to Pixar’s Luca for some extra Italian Riviera vibes.