Linguine with basil pesto, green beans and cannellini

Name: Linguine with basil pesto, green beans and cannellini
Prep time: 18 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 220 g Linguine (110 g per person); 40 g Fresh basil (40 g fresh leaves only, from 1 × 50 g bunch, picked, rinsed and thoroughly dried in a tea towel); 40 g Pine nuts (4 tbsp; toast half); 5 g Garlic (1 small clove, central shoot removed); 50 g Extra virgin olive oil (5 tbsp, mild and fruity, for the pesto, added in two stages); 60 g Lemon (1/2 lemon: finely grated zest in the pesto, half its juice (10–15 g) over the finished dish); 150 g Green beans (2 generous handfuls, trimmed and cut into 4 cm lengths); 240 g Tinned cannellini beans (400 g tin) (1 × 400 g tin, drained and rinsed weight); 2.5 g Fine salt (1/2 level tsp in the pesto; taste after adding pasta water); 25 g Coarse salt (for 2.5 litres of cooking water)

pareve Italian · easy · 25 min, including 18 hands-on

Uncooked, cheese-free basil pesto with a mixture of toasted and raw pine nuts, loosened off the heat with pasta water; green beans and cannellini cook in the same pot as the linguine, Ligurian style.

Ingredients for two

220 g	Linguine 110 g per person
40 g	Fresh basil 40 g fresh leaves only, from 1 × 50 g bunch, picked, rinsed and thoroughly dried in a tea towel
40 g	Pine nuts 4 tbsp; toast half
5 g	Garlic 1 small clove, central shoot removed
50 g	Extra virgin olive oil 5 tbsp, mild and fruity, for the pesto, added in two stages
60 g	Lemon 1/2 lemon: finely grated zest in the pesto, half its juice (10–15 g) over the finished dish
150 g	Green beans 2 generous handfuls, trimmed and cut into 4 cm lengths
240 g	Tinned cannellini beans (400 g tin) 1 × 400 g tin, drained and rinsed weight
2.5 g	Fine salt 1/2 level tsp in the pesto; taste after adding pasta water
25 g	Coarse salt for 2.5 litres of cooking water

Method

Bring 2.5 litres of water to the boil in the covered 4-litre saucepan. Chill the small blender's bowl and blade in the freezer for 5 minutes, or in the fridge, while preparing the ingredients. Trim the green beans and cut into 4 cm lengths. Rinse the cannellini under cold water in the colander and leave to drain. Rinse and pick the basil, then dry the leaves in a tea towel; residual water would dilute the pesto. Finely grate the zest of the half lemon without taking any white pith.
Toast 20 g pine nuts, half the total, in the dry small frying pan over a medium heat for 2 minutes, shaking and watching constantly, until pale golden. Tip onto a plate and cool for 2 minutes. In the cold blender bowl, pulse the toasted nuts and 20 g raw nuts with the garlic, central shoot removed, and 2.5 g salt for 15–20 seconds in total, until a coarse paste forms.
Add the basil, lemon zest and half the oil, 25 g. Pulse for 1 second at a time, scraping the sides once, just until a green, slightly grainy cream forms, without warming the bowl. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir in the remaining 25 g oil with a spoon, without further blending. Cover with a small plate to limit oxidation.
Salt the boiling water with 25 g coarse salt, or 10 g per litre. Add the linguine and cook for the packet's al dente time, usually 9–11 minutes. Add the green beans 7–8 minutes before the end, or with the pasta if its cooking time is 9 minutes. They should be tender but still bright green as the pasta becomes al dente. Two minutes before the end, ladle out 200 g cooking water. Cool 60 g in a bowl for 1 minute, then stir into the pesto to loosen it. At the same time, add the drained cannellini to the pasta pot to warm for 2 minutes.
Drain the pasta, green beans and cannellini together without rinsing, then immediately add to the pesto bowl, off the heat. Toss with tongs for 30 seconds, then add reserved water by the spoonful until the pesto coats the linguine without becoming pasty. Squeeze half the zested lemon half over everything, 10–15 g juice, no more, as the pesto should not be sour. Mix and taste before adding more, then adjust the salt; without cheese, pesto needs more than you might expect. Serve immediately, while the basil is green and fragrant.

Lighter version

Linguine : 140 g
Green beans : 250 g
Extra virgin olive oil : 40 g

In step 3, blend 25 g oil with the basil, then stir just 15 g, instead of 25 g, into the mixing bowl.

Less pasta, 70 g per person, more green beans and 1 tbsp less oil, 25 g in the blender and 15 g stirred in: a version used by Ligurians themselves. The same pesto and method.

On your plate

Recipe

853 kcal · protein 26 g · carbs 91 g · fat 41 g

Quantities per person

110 g Linguine
20 g Fresh basil
20 g Pine nuts
2.5 g Garlic
25 g Extra virgin olive oil
30 g Lemon
75 g Green beans
120 g Tinned cannellini beans (400 g tin)
1.25 g Fine salt
12.5 g Coarse salt

Cooking tips

This pareve pesto embraces the absence of cheese: toasted pine nuts provide depth, raw ones creaminess, and starchy water binds it. Never put it in a hot pan. Keep leftover pesto on its own in the fridge in a small pot, with cling film directly on the surface and a thin layer of oil above it, for no more than 2 days, otherwise it darkens. Do not keep pasta already mixed with pesto. When basil is unavailable, use the same method with 40 g rocket and 20 g parsley, keeping the lemon zest.

Equipment : 4-litre saucepan with a lid, small blender, small frying pan, fine grater, colander, mixing bowl, ladle, tongs

Ligurian linguine al pesto con fagiolini, the avvantaggiato pesto tradition with vegetables cooked in the pasta water, made without cheese and with cannellini for protein.