Trofie PastA with Pesto, Potatoes and Beans
Serves 4 as main dish

This is one of those situational dishes we enjoyed on my first trip to Italy. I was with my wife, Michele, and our dear friends Mario and Chrissy. Mario is Italian (Chrissy, Norwegian). We were in Portofino at around 2pm and looking for a bite to eat. The restaurant Mario poked his head into said they were closed but Mario talked them into sitting us. We would receive no menu – just the chef’s idea of a late-comers’ lunch. We dined on grilled scampi and this pasta. The pesto was unforgettable – as was the entre experience.

You might note that we have two starches in this recipe: pasta and potatoes. Traditionally an ‘no-no’ but the Ligurians know their pesto and if they can serve it with potatoes and trofie pasta, we definitely can.

Fry the cubed potato in about a 1/4 inch of olive oil (about 8 minutes). As the potato is just beginning to brown, add the beans and continue to sauté. Remove from heat when the potato is golden brown and the beans are finished cooking, but still crisp (about 10 minutes). Drain the oil and salt to taste. Mix the pasta together with the potato and beans, the pesto, and the left over 4 tablespoons of pasta water. Salt to taste and serve with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Pesto
This recipe makes more than you need for a typical pasta dish (about twice as much as you’ll need). That’s perfect – you can freeze this sauce and use any time.

Makes 10-12 tablsepoons.

3 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
1/3 cup Pecorino Romano, grated
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

In a Cuisinart, blend all the ingredients until smooth. Add more or less olive oil to control the consistency of the sauce.