In order to make the summer couscous salad of my last post, I bought a rather hefty pot of basil from the supermarket and only used 1/12th of the pot. So with the remaining 11/12ths I decided to make fresh pesto. This is a seasonal recipe with new potatoes and green beans. Mine is a simple version. Some pestos have fresh garlic, some use a pestle and mortar but I have gone for the easy method with pine nuts, cheese, basil and oil – this lets the flavour of the basil sing.
Tagliatelle al pesto
350g – 400g Tagliatelle
100g pine nuts
50g grated parmesan
a very large handful of basil leaves
a handful of green beans
some halved new potatoes
olive oil
In your blender, place the basil, pine nuts, olive oil and parmesan. Whiz it up until it is a paste and as coarse or fine as you prefer. Add more olive oil to loosen the paste and place in a bowl to one side. Steam your green beans and new potatoes and cook the pasta accoring to instructions. When both veg and pasta are cooked and drained, transfer the veg to the pasta pan. Mix up the pesto again if it has seperated slightly from the oil then stir into the pasta and veg, serve in bowls with more grated parmesan on top.
