Trenette Al Pesto

Health

By Lily Date, 2023

Published 5/3/22

Trenette Al Pesto. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

If you’ve watched Luca, chances are you’ve seen the bright green dish known as Trenette Al Pesto. This dish includes pesto, green beans, and potatoes; all on top of pasta. Although trenette can be difficult to find in stores, it is very similar to linguine or fettuccine.

Ingredients:

Pasta:

500 g Trenette (or pasta of your choice)

100 g Green Beans cut into 1-inch pieces

1 large yellow potato cut into 1-inch cubes

Pesto:

45 leaves (50 g) of Basil Genovese (round leaves)

2 cloves of Garlic

A pinch of Coarse Salt

2 Tbsp grated Parmigiano (Parmesan)

2 Tbsp grated Pecorino

A handful (30 g) of Pine Nuts

100 mL Extra-Virgin Olive Oil


Directions:

  1. Crush the basil and garlic with a pinch of coarse salt (with a mortar and pestle if you want to be traditional, or a food processor if you don’t have one!) slowly adding oil as you go.

  2. Add the pine nuts, grated parmigiano, and grated pecorino to the mixture and continue drizzling in the oil until you achieve the consistency of thick cream.

  3. Boil water for the pasta, adding salt once it reaches a boil.

  4. Add pasta, green beans, and potato to boiling water.

  5. Once pasta is al dente — not overly soft and still has some texture — remove from heat and drain (reserve a cup of the pasta water!).

  6. Place pesto into a large serving bowl and add a few spoonfuls of the reserved pasta water.

  7. Pour pasta, green beans, and potato into the bowl with the pesto, mix, and enjoy!