Pasta with pesto, potatoes and green beans

I would never imagine that pasta and potatoes goes together in one dish so perfectly. But from the first time I tried this pasta, typical in Genova region in Italy, it has been one of my favorites ever since. Especially if cooked by my mother in law or my husband.

Ingredients

3 new potatoes
1 Cup Trimmed Young Green Beans
250 gr / 8 oz linguine pasta
1/2 cup pesto
freshly grated parmesan
extra virgin olive oil
salt
pine nuts and basil for decoration

You only need one cooking pot to make this entire dish – you boil the pasta, greens beans and potatoes in the same pot. And the water must be heavily salted because it lends flavor to your pasta, maintains the bright green color of the beans keeps the potatoes firm after they are cooked.

Directions:

Start with preparing the pesto. You can find the recipe here

cut the potatoes in small cubes, place in a medium saucepan, add salted water to cover generously, and bring to a boil. Boil gently until the potatoes are tender, then add pasta.

trim and cut the green beans in half, add to the boiling potatoes. Cook until vegetables are tender and pasta is al dente, about 6 min.

Before you drain the saucepan, remove and reserve about ½ cupful of the pasta water.

take half of the pesto and put in a bowl. Add a tablespoon or two of the hot pasta water if you need help in blending the pesto.

add the pasta and remaining pesto. Mix together with a wooden spoon. The potatoes should be broken up into chunks in a rustic fashion. If the mixture is too dry, add a little more olive oil.