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Pesto Pasta with Green Beans and Potatoes

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Pesto Pasta with Green Beans and Potatoes

This Pesto Pasta with Green Beans and Potatoes is quick, easy and delicious. It is also healthy and a great meal for vegetarians.

I made fresh pesto the other day because I had a lot of basil growing in my garden. When I posted a video of the Pesto preparation on Instagram mentioning the blanching trick, a very concerned Italian woman let me know that blanching was unheard of and completely unacceptable!!

There are many methods for making pesto and I have tried all of them. In the end, this version wins on flavor, ease and color (even if I am a heretic to the lovely Italian woman).

 

If you have been following my blog, you know that I like to incorporate vegetables into every meal. On that note, I added green beans and small potatoes to this pasta dish.

Tips:

  • Boil or steam vegetables in the same pan where you will be cooking the pasta.
  • To save you time, make the pesto earlier in the day or a day before you will be using it.
  • When cooking the pine nuts, plan on standing by the skillet until they are done. It only takes 4-5 minutes and I cannot tell you how many times that I have walked away to do something else and burned them. The photo was of my second batch of pine nuts!
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Pesto Pasta with Green Beans and Potatoes


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  • Author: Lisa @ My Studio Kitchen
  • Total Time: 42 minutes
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Description

A quick and easy pasta recipe.


Ingredients

Scale

Pesto

  • 2 cups basil leaves, washed
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1/2 cup raw pine nuts
  • 1/23/4 cup olive oil
  • 3/4 cup Reggiano Parmesan cheese
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Pasta

  • 1 pound pasta
  • 11/2 cups green beans
  • 1215 small potatoes, cut larger ones in half
  • 1 tablespoon salt

Instructions

Pesto

  1. Heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, add pine nuts and cook until they turn golden brown (4-5 minutes). Keep a close eye on them. Set aside to cool.
  2. Fill a large bowl with cold water and some ice cubes, set aside.
  3. Heat al large saucepan filled with water until boiling. Add basil leaves and count to 10, drain then place in the ice bath. After a minute or two, remove the basil with your hands and squeeze out all of the water. Place in the bowl of a food processor.
  4. Place pine nuts in the food processor with the basil and chopped garlic and blitz it for 5-10 seconds then keep the motor running and slowly drizzle the olive oil into the opening. Add 1/2 cup, check consistency, you will want a nice thickish paste. Add additional olive oil if necessary.
  5. Pour into a bowl, add grated cheese, salt and pepper to taste.

Pasta

Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil over high heat.

When it reaches a boil, either add potatoes to a steamer or directly into the boiling water. After 5 minutes, add green beans and continue cooking for 4-5 minutes. You will want to remove the beans when they are still a little firm. Make sure the potatoes are cooked through but not too soft. Set  aside.

Bring the water to a boil again, add salt then add pasta and cook according to the directions and depending on the shape of the pasta. Before pasta is done, ladle out a bit of the pasta cooking water and place in a bowl. Drain pasta, then place back into the pan.

Add beans and potatoes to the pasta, add 3-4 large spoonfuls of pesto and a couple spoonfuls of the cooking water and stir. Add additional pesto and/or water until the saucehas nice, creamy consistency.

Finish with additional Parmesan cheese.

Notes

You may want to use a combination of Parmesan and Pecorino Romano Cheese. If you do, keep in mind that the Pecorino cheese is fairly salty so don’t add as much salt when seasoning the pesto.

  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 12 minutes
  • Category: Main Course
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Italian

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 5 servings

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