What Is Bavette al Pesto?
In the UK, bavette (also known as skirt) is a popular cut of beef, but in northern Italy, particularly in Liguria where it originated, bavette refers to a long, thin style of pasta that is a cross between linguine and tagliatelle. It is one of the region's most traditional pasta shapes, often paired with pesto to create the iconic dish, Bavette al Pesto.
Bavette is a classic shape to pair with pesto
Bavette is a thin, flat pasta that pesto is able to cling to exceptionally well, especially when it has been made with a bronze die. This kind of die gives pasta a rough finish, which increases its surface area and allows sauces to adhere to it more effectively. Just like pesto, bavette originates from Liguria and is one of only a handful of shapes you will find served in the region's trattorias.
Pasta shapes matter when pairing sauces with them
We can forgive people for assuming that, regardless of what shape you pair with pesto, the dish will always taste the same. You'd be a brave person to say that to an Italian chef, though, as they are very particular about which shapes they serve with specific sauces. Tradition and sentimentality undoubtedly have a lot to do with it, but the size, shape, and texture of pasta make a huge difference to the diner's overall eating experience.
Why bavette works so well with pesto
Bavette is essentially a slightly wider version of linguine, although its nearest cousin is a shape called trenette. That shape was made famous by Disney-Pixar when Luca eats pasta and pesto in the smash-hit film, Luca. Bavette pasta is the perfect width to hold onto creamy sauces like pesto, but it's not so wide that sauces fall off it. As soon as you start getting any wider than tagliatelle, you find yourself in the zone of shapes that are far better suited to meaty, ragù-style sauces, of which pappardelle is our favourite.
How to make bavette al pesto
At its simplest, bavette al pesto is nothing more than bavette pasta cooked al-dente in generously salted water with lashings of fresh basil pesto stirred through it. If that sounds bland or unexciting, don't knock it until you've tried it. It's one of Italy's great minimalist dishes, just like cacio e pepe, which is a glorious marriage of nothing more than pasta, cheese, and black pepper.
If you prefer your pasta dishes to contain a few more ingredients, then consider copying the Genovese, who serve their pesto pasta with potatoes and green beans. We know that the pairing of potatoes and pasta sounds like carbohydrate overload, but it joins scallops and black pudding, chilli and chocolate, and strawberries and balsamic vinegar as ingredient combinations that on paper really shouldn't work, but for some reason just do.