Pasta shapes · Italian cuisine
Trofie
Ligurian spindles of flour and water, rolled between the palms – best with pesto genovese.
At a glance
- Origin
- Liguria.
- Dough
- Flour and water, no eggs.
- Production
- Hand-rolled between the palms; industrially as small spirals.
- Pairs with
- Pesto genovese, green beans.
- Cooking time
- Fresh (the smaller trofiette) 3–6 min, depending on the maker; dried according to the packet.
Trofie are small, tightly twisted spindles of dough with tapered ends, about 4 cm long and 5.5 mm thick. They come from Liguria, and the name is of Genoese origin.
The dough is simply flour and water, without eggs; in the past bran, boiled potato, soaked bread or chestnut flour were added. After resting, bean-sized pieces are pinched off and rolled between the palms, or with the palm on a board, until they twist into a spindle. Factory trofie of semolina and water take the form of small spirals. Sources agree that fresh ones are far better than dried.
They are typically served with pesto, often with green beans.