Thursday, November 5, 2009

Linguine with Frenched Green Beans and Pesto

This fall, my CSA has switched from having a pick-up every other week to a pick-up every week. I collect my share at our Wednesday farmers’ market, and I’m always tempted by the goods I see at all the other tables at the market too. What this means is that each week I bring home a big supply of fresh, beautiful vegetables and get to think up ways to use them all within the next seven days. Last week, my haul included incredibly fresh and crisp green beans and a bunch of basil, and I remembered this pasta dish from On Top of Spaghetti. I’ve mentioned this book a few times before, and it’s one of my favorites. Once again, it delivered a great meal. Now, the interesting thing about this dish is the cut of the green beans. By frenching them, or cutting them into long, slender strips, the pieces become very tender when cooked and can be twirled on your fork with the pasta. This was the second time in my life that I french-cut some green beans by hand, and for this quantity it’s not such a daunting task. However, if I were preparing this for a crowd, or if I should decide that I need to french beans for every meal, I’m going to have to get a tool to speed up the process.

So, begin by carefully slicing green beans lengthwise into thin pieces. Then, cook them in boiling water until tender enough to twirl on a fork, and drain them, rinse with cool water, and leave them in the colander. While you bring a large pot of water to a boil for the linguine, you can make a pesto from parsley leaves, basil leaves, a garlic clove, a pinch of cayenne, and olive oil. Once the pesto is pureed, add some grated pecorino romano. Cook the linguine, and then drain it into the colander with the beans so as to re-warm the beans. Place the pasta and beans in a large serving bowl, toss with the pesto, and serve with extra grated pecorino.

This pasta dish is all about the fresh flavors of the green beans and the herbs in the pesto while the cayenne perks things up without being assertive, and the pecorino adds richness. I loved that the beans curled into the pasta on the plate and their texture was just barely firmer than the linguine. It’s a simple pasta dish and a delicious way to use fresh green beans.





29 comments:

  1. Love the beans cut like this - especially how you can see the little beans inside. I always prefer pesto (or non tomato based) sauce for pasta.

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  2. I love how the beans start to interact with the linguine when you cut them this way. I have never tried it and it does seem a lot of work to slice them lenghtwise but it does look like it is worth the effort. beautiful dish!

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  3. Never combined beans and pasta before. It looks so tasty and I loved your cutting style of beans, too.

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  4. Add some small cubed potatoes and you have a classic Ligurian dish. Green beans, pesto, pasta and potatoes!
    I would say it is one of my top favorite pasta dish.

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  5. Mmmm...green beans, pasta and pesto. A great combination here. looks way delicious, too.

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  6. Looks wonderful. I must admit I never think of green beans as an ingredient for a pasta dish... guess I'm with zerrin there. Such a shame!! I'm sure it's just wonderful. We often make a pesto & green bean dish with potatoes... just not pasta :)

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  7. I love the idea of cutting the beans that way to swirl with the pasta. It sounds like a great, simple dish.

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  8. Very clean and fresh! Looks pretty with the beans sliced that way.

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  9. Oh! The green beans look so fresh and good. I have cooked pasta with beans, but the way you have sliced them makes them blend with the pasta with same texture.

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  10. I love homemade pesto. Lovely pics!

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  11. Homemade pesto is so good isn't it! I like mixing up the nuts too-macadamia makes a great pesto! :)

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  12. That is a very appetizing tangle of pasta. I need that book!

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  13. Is it Spring already? This totally screams out spring to me...so fresh, so vibrant!

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  14. HOw beautiful! This looks so fresh and delicious! Have a fantastic weekend.

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  15. i’m fairly certain i’ve never eaten green beans in my pasta. i’ve also never attempted to thinly slice the suckers. i’m intrigued, and i do enjoy the green against the pale noodles. just lovely. :)

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  16. This dish is beautiful. The green beans really add a spectacular color to the pasta. Very fresh and healthy. I really enjoy these types of dishes. All you need is a nice glass of wine.

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  17. Green beans look great in the pasta dish. Love the combination with pesto.

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  18. Frenched cut green beans sound great in combination with pasta, very yummy!

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  19. What a great idea to combine the thin beans with pasta! I love everything about this! I'm off to check out the book!

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  20. Oh I love the addition of the green beans with the linguini and pesto! Sounds fabulous!

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  21. What a fresh and gorgeous dish, love those green beans with the pasta!

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  22. I love this idea, Lisa! It looks really delicous. The green beans are cut just to look like the linguini- and the pesto is perfect!

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  23. I'm such a sucker, all it takes is the mention of pesto and I am so loving the recipe. This sounds yummy with the frenched green beans, of which we have an abundance of thanks to our CSA.

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  24. Yum! Is there anything better than a few good ingredients and some pasta? I think not!

    Check out our blog today - shout out to you :)

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  25. giao {kiss my spatula}November 9, 2009 at 8:46 PM

    so so so gorgeous! all of it!

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  26. What a simply beautiful dish! I'm quite envious of your CSA but our farmers' market is still quite active - wonder if I can find green beans still? I'd love to try this!

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  27. This looks so good!

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