Pasta with Basil Pesto, Beans & Potatoes
Pasta Genovese
Genovese means different things to different people, but to me it is the classic basil pesto sauce served with beans and potatoes. The area of Genoa on the Italian Riviera coast is known for its fragrant basil and the origin of the pesto sauce. I like to serve this with a twisty pasta (either cassarecce, trofie or gemelli) so that it catches all the pesto goodness in the curves. If you are feeling a little lazy and can get your hands on some good fresh pesto from a deli (not the supermarket variety with a long shelf life) then go ahead and cheat..its still very good.
Recipe
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the Pesto:
½ cup of toasted pine nuts (I do them very quickly in dry fry pan)
2 cloves of garlic
3 cups of basil leaves
1 cup of olive oil
1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
For the Pasta:
3 potatoes, chopped into roughly 3cm pieces
500g of casarecce (or trofie or gemmeli, or other twist pasta)
300 grams of green beans (trimmed and cut in half)
Olive oil
Method
To make the pesto, mix the toasted pine nuts, garlic and basil leaves in a food processor (or a traditional mortar and pestle) until a crushed consistency. Then drizzle in the olive so that It emulsifies the green mixture. Stir in the parmesan cheese. then salt and pepper to taste.
Boil the potatoes until soft and tender (approx. 20 minutes)
Boil the pasta in salted water according to the packet instructions, then throw in the beans for the last 5 minutes
Drain the potatoes and pasta/bean mix, saving 1 cup of water
Mix it all together with the basil pesto sauce, adding a little more oil and the saved water to bring the dish together
Superb!