Pasta with Pesto, Potatoes, and Green Beans

I had a pasta similar to this in Italy a couple of summers ago, which was amazingly delicious so I decided to try this one. Chris and I are both big pesto fans, and this dish turned out really well. Chris said it was the best dinner that I have ever made.

I feel I should qualify that statement by letting you all know that I have made Chris toast for dinner before- so while this is very good it is not the peak of my culinary expertise which is as yet undiscovered.

This meal is essentially a one pot meal if you have the pesto made before hand or if you use store bought pesto.

Recipe from Great Food Fast- Thank You Martha

The Pasta

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 waxy potatoes
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
8 ounces short tubular pasta- I used penne
8 ounces green beans, trimmed and halved- I used frozen green beans
1/2 cup pesto (see pesto recipe below)

1- Peel and cut the potatoes into 1-inch cubes; place in a large pot of water and bring to a boil.

2-Add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta; return to a boil and cook for 2 minutes

3- Add the green beans. Return to a boil; cook until the vegetables are tender and the pasta is al dente according to package instructions.

4- Drain; toss with pesto and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The Pesto

1/2 cup pine nuts or walnuts- I used the pine nuts
4 cups fresh basil leaves loosely packed
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 garlic clove
Salt & Pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spread the pine nuts on a rimmed baking dish/sheet; toast in the oven until golden and fragrant, tossing occasionally, 5 to 8 minutes. Let cool completely. *

2- In a food processor, combine the toasted nuts, basil leaves, Parmesan, and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Process until finely chopped. With the machine running pour the olive oil in a steady stream through the feed tube; process until smooth. **

* I did not actually follow these toasting direction very well- I do not think my nuts were fragrant and I tossed them straight into the mix from the oven. It still turned out well.

**We do not have a food processor so I figured the blender would work- it did, but I would recommend putting the blender on a low setting as you pour in the olive oil-I realized this as I had the blender set to liquefy and pesto started exploding from the hole in the middle of the blender lid as I added the oil.