Trofie with Basil Pesto, Potatoes and Green Beans

Ingredients

• 320 g Trofie
• 50 g Basil
• 15 g Pine nuts
• 1 clove Garlic
• 40 g Parmigiano reggiano
• 20 g Pecorino sardo
• 80 ml Extra-virgin olive oil
• 200 g Potatoes
• 150 g Green beans
• 1 pinch Coarse salt

Steps

1. Make the pesto first.
2. Wash a generous bunch of young basil leaves and dry them very gently with a cloth, without bruising them.
3. In a marble mortar pound the peeled garlic clove with a pinch of coarse salt until creamy, then add the pine nuts and pound to a paste.
4. Add the basil leaves a few at a time, crushing them against the walls of the mortar with a rotating motion of the pestle until you have a bright green cream.
5. Work in the grated Parmigiano and the grated Fiore Sardo pecorino, then pour in the extra-virgin olive oil in a thin stream, stirring to a smooth, loose sauce.
6. Set aside.
7. Peel the potatoes and cut them into roughly 1 cm cubes.
8. Top and tail the green beans and cut them into 3 cm pieces.
9. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and salt it.
10. Add the potatoes and green beans and let them cook for about 5 minutes.
11. Add the trofie to the same pot with the vegetables and cook everything together until the pasta is al dente, following the time on the trofie.
12. Before draining, scoop out a ladleful of the starchy cooking water and loosen the pesto with a couple of spoonfuls of it in a large warm bowl, so the pesto stays raw and never meets direct heat.
13. Drain the trofie, potatoes and green beans and tip them into the bowl with the pesto.
14. Toss gently and thoroughly, adding a little more cooking water if needed, until everything is coated in a creamy emulsion.
15. Serve immediately, with extra grated cheese at the table if you like.

Tips

• Use the smallest, youngest basil leaves you can find (Genovese DOP if possible) for the sweetest pesto with no bitterness. Never blanch the basil and never let the pesto touch heat directly, or it will turn dark and grassy. A waxy potato that holds its shape works best, and the starch it releases helps bind the sauce.