Description
This bean dish is as green as it gets. Green beans, green basil, green pesto. Not exactly authentic, but the flavours are so bright no one will complain. They’ll likely ask for seconds.
Scale
Ingredients
- 1 1/2lb trimmed green beans, cut in half or into short lengths
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon table salt, or salt to taste)
- 3 tablespoons shelled, unsalted pistachios
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan
- 1 small bunch basil, leaves removed (about 1 cup, packed)
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
Instructions
- Put a saucepan of water on for the beans, adding salt when it starts to boil.
- To make the pesto, put the pistachios, Parmesan, basil and olive oil in a small bowl. Grate in (or mince and add) a little bit of the garlic—about a quarter of the clove—throwing the remaining piece of garlic into the bean water. Using an immersion blender, blitz the pesto ingredients into a thick green paste.
- Cook the beans to taste (check after 4 minutes), and, before draining, spoon a little of the cooking water (about 1 or 2 tablespoons is all you need) into the pesto bowl and blitz quickly to mix again with your immersion blender.
- Drain the beans (discarding the rogue garlic clove), and toss them in the bowl with the pesto, then transfer to a serving bowl, and take them fragrantly to the table.
Notes
This recipe is excerpted with permission from Nigellissima: Easy Italian-Inspired Recipes by Nigella Lawson. Published by Alfred A. Knopf Canada ©2012.