~708 cal · 33g protein · 95g carbs · 23g fat (estimated, per serving)
🍽️
Green pesto-coated pasta twists with potatoes and green beans
🇮🇹 Liguria
Genoa wrote rules for pesto: small-leaf basil, a marble mortar, cheese from specific hills. The detail the world forgot is the trinity — pasta boiled WITH potatoes and green beans, so the pesto dresses all three. Liguria remembers.
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🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
Ingredients
Serves 4 —
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3 packed cups fresh basil leaves
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1/3 cup pine nuts
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3/4 cup total Parmigiano + Pecorino, grated
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1 lb trofie (or casarecce) pasta
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2 waxy potatoes, small dice
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1.5 cups green beans, cut
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1 small clove garlic
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1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (Ligurian if you can)
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for mortar and pot coarse salt
Instructions
1
Pound (or pulse, briefly) the garlic and a pinch of coarse salt, then the pine nuts, then the basil in additions — cold and fast keeps it emerald.
2
Work in the cheeses, then stream in the oil. Never let it get warm; pesto is a raw sauce.
3
Boil the potatoes in well-salted water 5 minutes; add the pasta, and the green beans for the pasta’s last 4 minutes.
4
Drain, keeping a cup of starchy water. Off the heat, fold everything through the pesto, loosening with splashes of that water.
5
Serve immediately. The potato edges dissolve into the sauce — that’s the Ligurian magic.
Genoese tradition, trinity included.
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🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
📍
Liguria. The cliff-hung coast that pounded basil into legend.
🗺️
Italy. Twenty regions, twenty utterly different cuisines.
🌍
Europe. Village recipes guarded for generations.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
👩🍳
Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →
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