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Italy, Europe

Pasta al Pesto Genovese

Liguria's classic home pasta: fresh basil, pine nuts, cheese and olive oil blitzed into a bright green pesto and tossed with pasta, potatoes and green beans.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time28 min
DifficultyMedium

Method

  1. Pick the basil leaves off the stems, rinse them gently in cold water and dry them completely with a towel or salad spinner (wet leaves make a runny pesto that darkens fast). Peel the potato and cut it into 1.5 cm cubes. Trim the ends of the green beans and cut them into 4 cm pieces. Finely grate both cheeses. Halve the garlic and remove any green sprout.

  2. Put the garlic, pine nuts and pesto salt in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until it looks like coarse sand. Add the basil and half the olive oil and pulse in short 2–3 second bursts, scraping down the sides, until you have a fine green paste. Don't run the machine continuously: the heat turns basil dark and bitter. Scrape it into a large serving bowl and stir in the cheeses and the rest of the oil with a spoon.

    Add in this stepGarlic cloves 1Pine nuts 15 gCoarse salt (for the pesto) 1 pinchFresh basil leaves 30 gExtra-virgin olive oil 50 mlParmigiano Reggiano, finely grated 18 gPecorino Romano, finely grated 9 g

  3. Pour the water into a 20 cm pot, cover and bring to a boil over high heat; this takes about . When it is boiling hard, add the coarse salt.

    Add in this stepWater for the pasta 2½ LCoarse salt (for the pasta water) 25 g

    high heat

  4. Add the potato cubes and boil over medium-high heat for . They should be cooked on the outside but still firm in the middle.

    Add in this stepPotato 120 g

    medium-high heat

  5. Add the pasta and stir for the first minute so it doesn't stick. Boil over medium-high heat for , then add the green beans and cook for more. It's ready when the pasta is tender with a slight bite in the center, a fork slides easily into the potatoes and the beans are soft but still bright green.

    Add in this stepShort pasta (trofie, or fusilli) 200 gGreen beans 80 g

    medium-high heat

  6. Before draining, scoop out a mugful of the cooking water. Stir 3 tbsp of the hot water into the pesto to loosen it into a creamy sauce. Drain the pasta and vegetables, shake off the excess water and tip them straight into the bowl. Toss well, off the heat; a few potato cubes will break up and make the sauce creamier. Add a splash more water if it looks dry, sprinkle with a little extra cheese and serve right away.

    Add in this stepParmigiano Reggiano, finely grated 2 gPecorino Romano, finely grated 1 g

Cook's tip

Never heat pesto in a pan: it loses its aroma and turns olive-brown. A single serving is too little for most blender blades, so make two servings and keep the rest in a jar topped with a thin layer of oil in the fridge for up to 3 days. No pine nuts? Walnuts or cashews work too.

Cooking it at camp

Make the pesto at home, pack it in a jar covered with a layer of olive oil and keep it in the cooler. At the campsite you only need one big pot: potatoes, pasta and beans go into the same water one after another. Camp stoves are weaker, so keep the lid on while the water heats.