Pesto Pasta With Potatoes Recipes

BEST EVER PESTO & POTATO PASTA

Steps:

• KIDS: the writing in bold is for you. GROWN-UPS: the rest is for you. Pick the basil for the pesto. Get your child to pick the basil leaves off the stalks. Ask them to look at and smell the leaves as you tell them the name of the herb until they remember it - try to do this with all herbs when you can.
• Make the pesto. Toast the pine nuts in a pan over a low heat. A child of seven years plus can stir the nuts in the pan. Tip into a mini chopper (or use a pestle and mortar) with the basil, parmesan, garlic and olive oil. Blitz or pound into a green sauce, then set aside.
• Chop up the beans. Using a child-friendly knife, get children from the age of five to chop the green beans into shorter lengths, and quarter the potatoes. Younger children can snap the beans into short lengths while you prepare the potatoes.
• Cook the vegetables and pasta. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the potatoes and boil for 3 mins. Remove from the heat and ask the child to tip in the pasta and give it a stir. Put the pan back on the heat, boil the pasta for 5 mins, add the beans and cook for a final 3 mins.
• Mix everything together. Drain everything well and tip into a bowl. Spoon most of the pesto into the pasta and stir everything together to coat. Bring the large bowl of pasta to the table and serve with extra parmesan, more basil and remaining pesto, if you like.

PASTA WITH PESTO, POTATOES, AND GREEN BEANS

Steps:

• Place potatoes in a large pot of water; bring to a boil.
• Add salt and cavatappi or other short tubular pasta; return to a boil; cook 2 minutes.
• Add green beans. Return to a boil; cook until vegetables are tender and pasta is al dente, about 6 minutes.
• Drain; toss with pesto; season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

PASTA, GREEN BEANS AND POTATOES WITH PESTO

Steps:

• Make pesto: In the bowl of food processor, add basil, pine nuts, salt and garlic. Pulse until mixture is coarse and grainy. With the motor running, add oil in slow, steady stream. Add cheese; process just enough to mix well. If sauce is too dry, add a little more oil. Taste; add more cheese or salt, if desired.
• Bring 6 quarts water to rolling boil. Add at least 2 tablespoons salt and the potato slices. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until potatoes have started to soften but are not cooked through. Add green beans, and continue boiling another 5 minutes.
• Add pasta, and stir. Start testing pasta at 5 minutes. When it is done, and when potatoes and beans are tender, drain and turn pasta and vegetables immediately into preheated bowl. Add pesto, and mix thoroughly. Serve immediately.

PESTO PASTA WITH POTATOES AND GREEN BEANS RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large pot of salted boiling water, boil pasta, potato, and green beans until pasta is al dente and potato and green beans are very tender. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking water, and transfer pasta, potato, and green beans to a large mixing or serving bowl.
• Add pesto sauce to pasta along with 1/4 cup pasta cooking water. Toss well to emulsify pesto and pasta water into a creamy sauce. Add more pasta water, 1 tablespoon at a time, as needed, if pasta is too dry. Drizzle in fresh olive oil, if desired. Serve with Parmigiano Reggiano on the side.

ASPARAGUS PESTO WITH TINY POTATOES AND PASTA

Steps:

• Pesto:
• Cut the cooked asparagus spears into thirds. Put in a food processor with the basil, pine nuts, garlic, and salt and pepper, to taste. Keep in mind you will add Parmesan as well, so be careful not to oversalt. With the machine running, slowly add the cup of olive oil. When the sauce is about the consistency of mayonnaise, it has enough oil. Pulse in the Parmesan. Thin with water if necessary to achieve a slick, saucy pesto. Scrape into a bowl or jar, cover, and refrigerate until needed. You should have about 3 cups. (Keeps about 2 to 3 days, refrigerated.)
• Put the potatoes in a pan of salted cold water to cover and bring to a boil. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and let cool for a few minutes. If the potatoes are larger than about 1/2 inch in diameter, cut in half.
• Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the potatoes and cook until browned and crispy all over, about 5 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Keep warm. Add basil, toss with potatoes and set aside.
• While the potatoes are browning, return the water used for cooking the asparagus, if reserved, to a boil or brint a new pot of water to a boil. Add more salt and the pasta and cook until al dente, about 12 minutes. Drain through a colander, reserving about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Pour the pasta into a warm serving bowl, add the potatoes, about 1 cup of the asparagus pesto, several twists of pepper, and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan. Toss well, thinning with the pasta cooking water as necessary.
• Dust with a light grating of Parmesan (a microplane grater works well for this) before serving and pass the remaining cheese and a bowl of pesto at the table.

PESTO PASTA WITH POTATOES

Steps:

• Peel and cut the potatoes into a small dice (about 1 cm). Bring a pot of water to a boil then salt and add the potatoes. Cook the potatoes about 8 minutes or until soft when pierced and almost cooked through.
• Add the pasta and cook together with the potatoes following the package instructions (spaghetti n.3 take 5 minutes).
• Stir 2-3 tablespoons of the pasta cooking water into the pesto - this makes it creamy and raises its temperature so you will not be adding it cold.
• Drain the cooked pasta together with the potatoes and place back into the same pot. Pour in the pesto and stir to distribute being careful not to mash the potatoes. Add a generous pouring of olive oil to ease the process. Serve and top with grated parmesan.

PASTA WITH PESTO, POTATOES, AND GREEN BEANS

Steps:

• Peel and cut the potatoes into 1-inch cubes; place in a large pot of water and bring to a boil.
• Add 1 tablespoon salt and the cavatappi; return to a boil and cook for 2 minutes.
• Add the green beans. Return to a boil; cook until the vegetables are tender and the pasta is al dente according to package instructions.
• Drain; toss with the pesto and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

PASTA AND POTATOES WITH PESTO

Steps:

• Place all pesto ingredients except the oil in a food processor and process well. With the machine still running, add oil and blend until the consistency of soft butter.
• In covered saucepan, cook beans in salted water for 2-3 minutes.
• Add potatoes and cook until tender about 8-10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta according to the instructions on the pasta package. Drain pasta.
• Drain the potatoe/Green bean mixture reserving 2-3 T. of the liquid.
• Add the liquid to the pesto and toss with butter.
• Combine pesto, vegetables and pasta and toss until well coated.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve with grated Parmesan Cheese.