The Garlic Truck

On Thursday afternoon, as Beatrice and I were waiting (and waiting and waiting) for Giuseppe in Corleone's Piazza Falcone and Borsellino, I noticed a red truck by the edge of the square filled with long braided bulbs of softneck garlic. This batch had creamy pink skin.  

If I were in my own kitchen, I'd make Sicilian pesto. Rather than the familiar green garlic and basil base that is inspired from Lugurian cuisine, (pesto alla Genovese), Pesto alla Sicilana has a tomato base. It takes about 20 minutes to make. I'm including two versions below. The second, Pesto alla Trapanese, is less strong. 



Ingredients:

2 ounces (50 g) pinoli nuts
3 small heads of garlic
2 large sun-ripened tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded, and chopped
A small bunch of basil
A small bunch of parsley
The leaves of a stalk of celery
Olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste
 
Preparation: Mince the herbs. Remove the skins from the garlic cloves. Grind the pine nuts and garlic in a mortar with the tomatoes, work in the herbs, and continue grinding until you have a smooth paste. Check seasoning, work enough olive oil into the mixture to transform it into a smooth sauce for pasta or with broiled or grilled meats or fish. 

Pesto alla Trapanese 
6 cloves garlic
6 ripe plum tomatoes
1/4 pound (100 g) blanched, peeled almonds
A bunch of basil
Olive oil, salt, and pepper
 
Grind the garlic, basil and slat to obtain a paste, then work the tomatoes and almonds into it, grinding until the mixture is homogenous. Add pepper to taste and enough olive oil to produce a sauce.