Spaghetti al Pesto

Spaghetti al Pesto

We Italians love pasta, even on the hottest days of summer. Summer pastas feature light, fresh herbs and vegetables that don’t need to be cooked. One of the most classic of these is the Spaghetti al Pesto, which features fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, a touch of garlic, and grated Italian cheeses.

There are lots of variations of pesto, but my favorite is the Calabrese version.  It omits the pine nuts that are a feature of the Genovese region, and instead substitutes a few potatoes and green beans. The flavors are delicious, and the starch from the potato not only helps the pesto bind to the pasta, but they absorb some of the olive oil and basil for a surprisingly piquant flavor.

I use a food processor to mix all of the ingredients for the sauce. If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a blender.

Ingredients

  • A large bunch of fresh Italian basil (leaves only).
  • 3 Yukon (golden) potatoes, medium size cut in 6 chunks
  • 1 garlic clove
  • A handful of green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces (fresh or frozen)
  • ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil (make sure this is very good quality, because it makes a bit difference in this recipe)
  • ½ cup Pecorino cheese, cut into 1-inch chunks
  • 1 box of a good Italian pasta, either the traditional spaghetti, or the busiate, or a smaller shape like the orecchiette.

It’s important that you do not add butter, cream, or too much olive oil. You make the pesto smooth with water from the pot where the pasta is cooked!

Preparation

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once the water is at a hard boil, put the chunks of potatoes into the water.  Wait for a couple of minutes, and then add the full box of pasta and the green beans to the boiling water.  As soon as the water starts to boil again, stir with a long wooden spoon to make sure the noodles don’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
  2. Add a tablespoon of salt to the water.
  3. While the pasta cooks, make the pesto in your food processor:
    1. Put the basil leaves, pecorino, garlic clove, and olive oil into the food processor. Blend for a few seconds until the pesto is bright green and chunky.
    2. Once the pasta is almost ready, dip a cup into the boiling pasta water (uou need the gluten, this is why you use the water in which you are cooking the pasta, so if you are using a gluten free pasta the pesto will be of low quality) and add some of it to the sauce. Blend it. It must become a smooth cream. So, add more of the pasta water if you need it until you are satisfied with the texture of the pesto.  Remember, you can always add water, but you cannot take it out, so be careful not to make a broth!
  4. When the pasta is al dente, drain it through a colander, and then quickly pour it into a large pasta serving bowl.
  5. Add the pesto and mix the pesto, its potatoes and green beans, into the pasta.
  6. Plate the pasta and garnish with a leaf or two of basil.
  7. Buon appetito!