Pasta w/Green Beans & Potatoes w/Pesto

The NYTimes describes this recipe as, "the most elegant pasta dish that Italian cooks have ever invented is astonishingly simple to make, especially now that pesto is made with a food processor instead of a mortar and pestle." Pesto? Potatoes? Pasta? Sign me up. I haven't tried it yet but rest assured, this will be on the menu this weekend.

What you need:

• 2 cups packed tender young basil leaves

• ¼ cup pine nuts

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 plump garlic cloves, peeled and crushed with flat blade of a knife

• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, or more to taste

• ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, or more to taste

• Salt to taste

• ½ pound small potatoes, peeled and sliced about 1/4-inch thick

• ¼ pound tender young green beans, cut into 1-inch lengths

• 1 pound trenette, or other long, thin pasta

Instructions:

• Make pesto: in bowl of food processor, add basil, pine nuts, salt and garlic. Pulse until mixture is coarse and grainy. With motor running, add oil in slow, steady stream. Add cheese; process just enough to mix well. If sauce is too dry, add a little more oil. Taste; add more cheese or salt, if desired.

• Bring 6 quarts water to rolling boil. Add at least 2 tablespoons salt and the potato slices. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until potatoes have started to soften but are not cooked through. Add green beans, and continue boiling another 5 minutes.

• Add pasta, and stir. Start testing pasta at 5 minutes. When it is done, and when potatoes and beans are tender, drain and turn pasta and vegetables immediately into preheated bowl. Add pesto, and mix thoroughly. Serve immediately.

#Basil #Garlic #NewPotatoes #GreenBeans