This simple pasta with greens is your meat-free Monday dinner of dreams

Name: This simple pasta with greens is your meat-free Monday dinner of dreams
Cook time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 400g trofie or another pasta of your choice* (see note); 200g Nicola potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm pieces; 200g green beans**, trimmed and cut into 4cm lengths on the diagonal; sea salt, to taste

Julia Busuttil Nishimura

February 27, 2026

A simple pesto Genovese is the star of this substantial pasta dish.William Meppem

easyTime:< 30 minsServes:4

A friend from the Ligurian town of Ventimiglia taught me this recipe many years ago. The brightness of the freshly made pesto and the cooking of the pasta, beans and potatoes together were a revelation. The dish has since become a summer staple in my house and is loved by the whole family.

Ingredients

400g trofie or another pasta of your choice* (see note)
200g Nicola potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm pieces
200g green beans**, trimmed and cut into 4cm lengths on the diagonal
sea salt, to taste

Pesto Genovese

1 garlic clove, peeled
70g pine nuts, untoasted
2 bunches basil, leaves picked (about 60g in total)
40g parmigiano reggiano, grated, plus extra to serve
40g pecorino, grated
100ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra as needed

Method

For the pesto

Step 1
To make the pesto, start by cutting the garlic clove in half lengthwise. If there’s a green shoot present, remove and discard.
Step 2
Add the garlic and pine nuts to a mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt and pound to form a rough paste. Add the basil leaves, a handful at a time, grinding to a fairly smooth paste.
Step 3
Stir in the cheeses and pour in enough oil to loosen the mixture, adding extra if needed. It should be thick but stirrable. Set aside.

(Alternatively, make the pesto in a food processor by blitzing all the ingredients, except the olive oil, to create a rough paste. Stream in enough oil to create a thick but stirrable pesto. Season to taste with salt and set aside.)

For the pasta

Step 1
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the pasta. After 2-3 minutes, add the potatoes. After about 4 minutes, add the green beans and continue to cook until the pasta is al dente and the vegetables are tender. (If you don’t feel confident cooking all three together, you can cook them separately to your liking and combine at the end.)
Step 2
Drain the pasta, potatoes and beans, reserving 125ml of the cooking water, and transfer to a large bowl. Add the pesto and loosen with a bit of the water, adding just a little at a time (you may not need it all). As you add the water, stir the pasta well to help emulsify the sauce and coat the pasta.
Step 3
Season to taste and serve with the extra grated parmigiano reggiano.

*Note: I like to use trofie, a small, twisted pasta shape from Liguria. Another that’s well suited to pesto genovese is trenette, but it’s difficult to find outside Liguria, so linguine is a great alternative.

**Young green beans, which are more slender, are perfect here.

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