Pasta al pesto with potatoes and green beans may sound like an unusual combination, but it’s a traditional way of serving pesto in Liguria.
In Genoa, pesto’s birthplace, the Genoesi boil green beans, potatoes, and Ligurian pasta (all in the same pot) and then serve it all mixed with the pesto sauce.
The recipe is truly simple…
Wash the green beans, remove the ends, and chop them into 2 pieces. Wash the potatoes and cut them into little pieces.
Place water in a large pot, add salt and bring to boil. Then, add the potatoes and the green beans to the pot and cook them for about 5 minutes. Finally, add the trenette pasta (also called bavette or linguine) to the same pot and cook until al dente. Drain the trenette, potatoes and green beans and place in a large bowl.
Add Genoese pesto sauce and mix everything to combine. You can add a bit of the cooking water to help the mixing process.
Serve immediately, topped with grated parmigiano cheese and Buon Appetito!
(image from greatitalianchefs.com)
