← Nouns Cooking · Italian

Ingredients

• 400 g trofie, trenette or linguine
• 50 g basil leaves (2 large bunches)
• 30 g Pine nuts
• 1 clove Garlic
• 50 g parmesan or vegetarian hard cheese, finely grated
• 25 g Pecorino romano, finely grated
• 100 ml mild extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small waxy potato, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes (optional)
• 100 g Green beans, cut into short lengths (optional)
• coarse salt

Method

1. Put the garlic and a pinch of coarse salt in a mortar and pound to a paste. Add the pine nuts and crush them in, then add the basil a handful at a time, grinding it against the sides with a circular motion until you have a bright green paste. A food processor works too: pulse in short bursts so the basil does not warm up and darken.
2. Stir in both cheeses, then loosen with the olive oil, stirring, until you have a thick, spoonable sauce. Taste for salt.
3. Cook the pasta in plenty of well-salted boiling water until al dente. If using the potato, add it with the pasta; add the green beans for the last 5 min.
4. Scoop out a mug of the cooking water, then drain. Off the heat, toss the pasta with the pesto and 3–4 tbsp of the water until creamy and glossy. Serve at once; pesto should never be cooked in the pan.

Tips

• Pine nuts are a tree nut, so warn anyone with a nut allergy.
• Parmesan and pecorino are made with animal rennet; choose vegetarian hard cheese if that matters to you.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

RecipeTin Eats BBC Good Food