Best Ever Pesto Potato Pasta Recipes

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.

JUICY PESTO PASTA!

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to the boil with the salt.
• Add pasta and cook for the length of time per the packet.
• Just before draining, scoop out 1 cup of of the pasta cooking water.
• Drain pasta in a colander, leave it for a minute.
• Transfer pasta to a bowl (do not use pasta cooking pot, too hot).
• Add pesto and 1/4 cup of pasta water. Toss to coat pasta in pesto, adding more water if required to make pasta silky and saucy, rather than dry and sticky.
• Taste, add more salt and pepper if desired.
• Serve immediately, garnished with fresh parmesan.

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.

THE BEST PESTO EVER

Steps:

• Place walnuts, pine nuts, salt, pepper, garlic, butter, basil, and parsley in to a blender or food processor. Turn the blender on, and add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Continue processing until a soft paste has formed. Fold in Parmesan and Romano cheeses. Store in the refrigerator covered by 1/4 inch of olive oil to prevent the surface from turning brown.

HOMEMADE BEST-O PESTO EVER

Steps:

• Pulse pine nuts, almonds, and garlic in a food processor for about 20 seconds. Add basil, 1 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Blend for about 1 minute. Add additional olive oil until desired consistency is reached.