Pesto pasta

Name: Pesto pasta
Cook time: 53 min
Total time: 53 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italiana
Ingredients: 400 g Pasta; 1 clove Garlic; 2 u Potato; Salt; 100 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil; 60 g Basil; 150 g Green Beans; 50 g Parmesan; 30 g Pine Nuts; 25 g pecorino

Pasta al pesto genovés

Easy

Contains allergens

Cereales con gluten

Incomplete allergen information: some ingredients have not been reviewed yet. Always check the labels before cooking.

Author: Equipo Cocinoa
Preparation time: 53 min
Servings: 4

Summary

Trofie or trenette with basil pesto pounded in a mortar with pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan and pecorino and, as in Liguria, potato and green beans cooked with the pasta. A fresh dish ready in half an hour, with no heat needed beyond the pasta pot.

Ingredients

4 servings

Add to Bring!

400 g Pasta (trofie or trenette (or linguine))
1 clove Garlic (green shoot removed)
2 u Potato (medium) (optional)
Salt (a few coarse grains for the mortar, plus salt for the pasta water)
100 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil (mild and fruity)
60 g Basil (leaves only, small ones if possible (about 2 bunches), plus a few to serve)
150 g Green Beans (fine) (optional)
50 g Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano, grated, plus extra to serve)
30 g Pine Nuts (plus a few extra to serve)
25 g pecorino (Sardo or Romano, grated)

Instructions

If the basil is clean, don't wash it; if you must, rinse it in cold water and dry it leaf by leaf with a tea towel, without rubbing, as it darkens the moment it is bruised.
5 min
Pound the garlic with a few grains of coarse salt in a mortar until it becomes a paste. Add the pine nuts and keep going until you have a slightly grainy cream.
4 min
Add the basil in batches with a little more salt, which helps break it down. Don't bash it: rotate the pestle, pressing the leaves against the sides with a circular movement, until they release a deep green juice and form a paste.
12 min
Add the Parmesan and pecorino and mix well. Trickle in the oil, stirring all the time with the pestle, until you have a thick, glossy sauce. If using a blender, blitz in short pulses with the chilled jug and only until it comes together.
3 min
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Peel the potatoes and cut them into thin slices or 1.5 cm dice; top and tail the beans and cut them into 3–4 cm lengths.
10 min
Drop the potatoes into the boiling water and, after 5 minutes, add the pasta and the beans. Cook everything together for the time given on the pasta packet, until the pasta is al dente and the potato tender. Before draining, save a glass of the cooking water.
17 min
Put the pesto in a large serving bowl and loosen it with two or three tablespoons of the cooking water. Add the drained pasta and vegetables and toss off the heat, adding more water if needed, until creamy. Serve straight away topped with a few basil leaves, some pine nuts and grated Parmesan.
2 min

Notes

Pesto comes from Genoa and takes its name from pestare, to pound: pesto made in a mortar has a looser texture and a cleaner scent than a blender one, because the leaves are crushed rather than chopped. If you use a blender, chill the jug and the oil in the fridge first and work in short pulses; heat from the blades darkens the basil and makes it bitter. For the same reason, pesto is never cooked: it is tossed with the pasta in a bowl, off the heat, and loosened with cooking water. Choose small, tender basil leaves, and remove the green shoot from the garlic for a milder flavour. The traditional pecorino is Sardo, milder than Romano; if you use Romano, add a little less. Parmesan and pecorino are made with animal rennet: for a vegetarian version, swap them for a hard cheese made with microbial rennet. If you have no pine nuts, some Ligurian households use walnuts. The potato and green beans are optional, but they add creaminess and turn the pasta into a one-dish meal. Leftover pesto keeps for two or three days in the fridge in a jar covered with a layer of oil, and freezes very well in ice-cube trays; in that case, freeze it without the cheese and stir that in once thawed.