Pasta with Potatoes, Green Beans and Pesto

Pasta, potatoes, green beans – sounds heavy, eh? When I first saw Martha Rose Shulman’s recipe combining the three, I was skeptical. But since I always have pesto and, in late summer, lots of green beans, I though I would try it. To everyone’s surprise, the combination was wonderful. Very homey and hearty. It has become a staple in our house for the last 4 years or so.

This recipe is an adaptation, based on our abundance of green beans and my pesto recipe. This makes a lot, feeds 6 with large portions or 8 with smaller portions. It is great that it makes a lot because it takes just as good cold the next day!

1 pound baby potatoes – red or white

Kosher salt

2 cups green, yellow and/or purple beans (from the garden)

1 cup pesto (see Pesto post)

1 pound linguine

Freshly grated parmigiano reggiano

Trim the green beans and break into about 1″ pieces. Set aside.

Place the pesto in a large serving bowl.

In a saucepan, place potatoes and cover with water. Add some salt. Heat to boiling, partially cover and cook until fork tender – about 20 minutes. Remove and let cool a little.

Cut into large bite-sized pieces. and place in bowl with the pesto.

Heat a large pot of salted water to boiling. Prepare a bowl of ice water. Add green beans and cook for 4 minutes. Remove with a spider and plunge into ice water. Drain and add to bowl with potatoes and pesto.

Bring the pot of water back to boiling and add pasta. Cook according to package directions. Drain and add to the pesto bowl. Toss to combine. Add 1/2 cup of the pasta water if more liquid is needed.