Pasta with Pesto Sauce, Sauteed New Potatoes and Green Beans

I am planning on spending some time on the East Coast soon, and this recipe is taken from the repertoire of Bell's Tavern in Lambertville, NJ. Bell's has been a great neighborhood restaurant for meeting up with old friends and eating real Italian food since 1938, not that I've been going there that long of course!

This recipe doesn't have a cute title, but it is great comfort food and real easy to make. I love they way they make it at Bell's.

Ingredients
A few waxy potatoes cut into bite-size pieces (no need to peel)
8 oz green beans, trimmed and halved
8 oz pasta (shells or tubes for preference)
salt
Pesto sauce (see below)

Place potatoes in a pan of water and bring to the boil. Add salt, then pasta, and cook for 8 minutes or until the pasta is al dente, adding the green beans for the last couple of minutes. Drain, toss with pesto and place in a hot serving dish.

* left-over potatoes can be used instead, as long as they are waxy - fry little pieces in olive oil until brown and crispy then toss into the pasta just before serving

Adding beans to pot 2 minutes before pasta and potatoes are done

Pesto Sauce
3 generous handfuls of fresh basil leaves, removed from their stems
1/2 cup pignoli/pine nuts (toasted but still pale - take care not to darken or they'll give a bitter flavor)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Process all pesto ingredients (except olive oil) so they are chopped but not blended - the sauce needs texture not smoothness. Stir in the best extra virgin olive oil you can get,, California Olive Ranch's Arbequina for example, and season to taste. These amounts provide four generous helpings of sauce. Scale up and store the rest in a glass jar in the refrigerator, sealed with a layer of olive oil.


Why not pair this with a glass or two of Di Majo Norante Sangiovese like they do at Bell's.

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