Recipe: Tallarines Verdes from Peru
Katinka Lansink Dodero inherited her love of Peruvian cuisine from her parents. In Mi casa Peru, she not only tells wonderful stories about this magical cuisine, but also shares the most delicious recipes for colorful comfort food and cocktails that are easy to prepare. And the best part: with ingredients that are easy to find. Tallarines is a Peruvian twist on Italian pasta pesto.
Katinka: “This is a Peruvian-Italian fusion dish, brought to Peru by boat in the 19th century. This pasta used to be made often at my abuelos‘ (grandmother and grandfather’s) home, following an adapted recipe. In Peru, this dish is often served with a Milanese (breaded veal) on top. At my family’s home, the tallerines were always served with thin slices of tenderloin, 2 cm thick, briefly seared, on top of the pesto pasta. This also looks a little nicer than a piece of meat on the pasta. A generous amount of ground black pepper was sprinkled over it as an alternative to the spicy ají. I always eat the tallerines without meat. In the past, when you couldn’t buy basil in the Netherlands yet, my mother bought large bags of basil from a farmer who grew it. I always helped make the pesto, and I still remember how the whole house smelled of basil—a real scent from my childhood. When I moved into student housing, the first thing I invested in was a Moulinex Masterchef costing 100 guilders. A fortune for me at the time, but at least I could make fresh pesto, so it was worth every penny. My ‘Chef Mouli’ has been my most faithful companion in the kitchen for 25 years.”
How to make Tallarines Verdes
- Cook the pasta for about 10 minutes over medium heat until al dente.
- Put all the remaining ingredients except the pepper and salt in the food processor and, once it has become a liquid paste, add enough black pepper and salt to taste.
- Mix the pasta with the pesto and serve!
Tip: Katinka always makes extra pesto so she can store it in a sterilized glass jar with a layer of olive oil on top of the pesto. You can freeze the pesto or keep it unopened in the refrigerator for 3 weeks.
Title: Mi casa Peru
Author: Katinka Lansink Dodero
Price: €25
Publisher: Luitingh-Sijthoff
Read also:
