Pasta con pesto alla Liguria
(Pasta with pesto sauce, Ligurian style)

This delicious recipe was given to me by a woman in Corniglia, a village on the Italian coast south of Genoa. I’d never heard of combining green beans and potatoes with pasta, but it’s a favorite of the hardworking fishermen and farmers of Liguria. Serve it with grilled fish or chicken and a salad for a hearty meal.

Ingredients: Box of pasta (I like farfalle or orecchiete); half a pound of fresh green beans; two medium-size potatoes; pesto sauce; parmegiano reggiano cheese for grating; salt and pepper to taste.

Cook the pasta al dente. Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into cubes, then drop them into boiling water. Let them cook while you snap the beans into pieces. Add the beans to the water and cook for another ten minutes, or until tender. (You can cook the potatoes and beans in the same pot as the pasta, but this requires excellent timing.)

Drain the pasta and vegetables and combine into one pot. Add enough pesto sauce to cover the pasta lightly, but not so much that it’s smothered in green. At the table, sprinkle each serving with freshly grated cheese.

Avoid that tasteless parmesan “cheese” that comes in those little green cans. If you can’t find good parmigiano reggiano at your local supermarket, go to an Italian or gourmet market. While you’re there, pick up the pesto sauce. Or you can make your own. Try this recipe: One cup of tightly packed basil leaves; one clove of crushed garlic; 1/4 cup of pine nuts; 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese; 1/3 cup of extra-virgin, cold-pressed olive oil; salt and pepper to taste. Mix in a food processor and keep it in the refrigerator.

Of course you’ll want some bread. Make sure it’s fresh and crusty, and have on the table a little dish of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, for dipping. You can add chopped herbs. Oregano or rosemary are good choices.

Buon appetito!