Ligurians use a lot of pesto sauce -- not just over pasta, but in other dishes too, for example minestrone. And it works quite well!
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hours, 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1/4 pound garden greens (dandelion, arugola, radicchio, etc.)
- 1/4 pound spinach, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 pound collard greens, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 a head white cabbage, cut into fairly thin strips
- 2 large potatoes, peeled
- 1/4 pound freshly shelled cranberry beans (borlotti; if need be use pinto beans)
- 2/3 pound fresh peas
- 3 ripe plum tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded, and cut into strips
- 2 zucchini, diced
- 1 medium-small onion, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 rib celery, minced
- A small bunch parsley, minced
- 1/3 pound short pasta (either hollow, or long flat pasta crumbled)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 to 2 tablespoons pesto sauce
- 2 quarts water
- Salt
- Grated Parmigiano
Preparation:
Wash the vegetables well, especially the spinach, to remove all traces of sand and dirt, and prepare them as above.Combine the minced celery, parsley, onion and garlic, and sauté them in the olive oil until the onion is a light golden color. Lightly salt 2 quarts of water and set them on the fire; when the pot comes to a boil add the greens, spinach, collard greens, cabbage, beans, peas, tomatoes, potatoes and zucchini. Stir the onion mixture into the pot and simmer everything for about an hour and a half.
Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon, mash them with a fork or a potato ricer, and return them to the minestrone, together with the pasta; continue summering until the pasta is al dente. Remove the pot from the fire, stir in the pesto sauce, and serve, with grated Parmigiano for those who want it.
A wine? White, and I'd go with a Pigato or Vermentino.
