Pasta alla trapanese

Optional: bring a couple cups of water to the boil, pull it off the heat, add the almonds and let them sit three or four minutes, then drain and slip the skins off.

Smash the sliced garlic with the salt in a mortar to a very fine paste, since garlic is the one ingredient a blender does not do as well.

Put the almonds in the blender first, then the cheese, so they grind before the wet ingredients go in; then the mint and basil, the mashed garlic and salt, the olive oil and finally the cherry tomatoes.

Pulse on and off until it comes together, then blend on high to the texture wanted, smooth or left coarse; taste and adjust the salt. It is a raw sauce and never gets cooked.

Boil the pasta in well-salted water until fully cooked, since it will not soften any further in this sauce.

Lift it out with a spider into a bowl, letting a little of the starchy cooking water come with it, and keep the rest of the water.

Add about a third of a cup of pasta water, as much pesto as you want and a nice big pinch of salt, and toss with two spoons until thoroughly and evenly coated.

Toss in a little more grated Pecorino, then serve topped with more cheese, a little chopped almond and a sprig of basil.