30 mins
Not Too Tricky
serves 2
About the recipe
Making pesto from scratch is a great skill to master as it goes well with so many different dishes, from pasta and soup to grilled and roasted vegetables. It's a real winner!
Ingredients
1 clove of garlic
1 bunch of fresh basil (30g)
20g shelled unsalted pistachios
extra virgin olive oil
20g Parmesan or vegetarian hard cheese
1 lemon
150g farfalle or other dried pasta
1 x 400g tin of butter beans
olive oil
100g ripe cherry tomatoes
120g fine green beans
100g baby spinach
Top Tip
The mighty butter bean is a fantastic source of protein, B vitamins, iron and fibre.
Method
- For the pesto, peel the garlic clove and place just under half into a pestle and mortar. Pick in the basil leaves, reserving a few for garnish, then bash to a paste.
- Add the pistachios and bash again until fairly fine, then muddle in 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.
- Finely grate in most of the Parmesan and add a squeeze of lemon juice, then season with sea salt and black pepper. Have a taste and tweak with a little extra lemon juice, if needed.
- Cook the pasta in a pan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions.
- Meanwhile, place a large frying pan on a medium heat. Drain and quickly rinse the butter beans, shaking off any excess water, then add to the dry pan and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until lightly golden and starting to pop.
- Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the popped beans and toss gently. Finely chop and add the remaining garlic, then cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the garlic is lightly golden.
- Halve the tomatoes, then add to the pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until slightly softened, stirring occasionally, while you trim the green beans.
- Add the green beans to the pasta pan for the final 4 minutes, and the spinach for the last 30 seconds.
- Drain the pasta and green veg, reserving a mugful of starchy cooking water, then tip back into the pan. Stir in the pesto, loosening with a little cooking water, if needed.
- Stir through the crispy beans and tomatoes, then scatter over the reserved basil leaves. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and finish with a fine grating of the remaining Parmesan. Delicious eaten straight away, or leave to cool and box up ready for lunch.
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