Runner Beans Pesto Pasta is the twist to a delicious Pesto Pasta with extra veggies. But with the same fantastic flavor. It's creamy, delicious, cheesy, and flavorful, a great vegetarian dinner.
Runner Beans Pesto Pasta
Pesto Pasta is one of my favorite easy weeknight dinner recipes. And usually, I serve a green salad as a side dish. But in this recipe, I added runner beans for some extra veggies and bite. Runner beans are great combined with pesto because they get some enhanced flavor.
This runner beans pesto pasta is a nice quick meal on the table within 15 minutes, and you only need one pan. That saves me washing extra dishes after work.
Runner Beans
Runner beans are a genuine seasonal vegetable. Runner beans are available from June to October. They can often be found at farmer's markets or in large grocery stores. Or you can grow them yourself (they're an easy crop to grow). You can buy them sliced (the variant usually here at home) or uncut. And you always store them in the refrigerator until used.
Runner beans are flatter and have a much coarser skin than green beans. Thus, you should cut them into small pieces before you prepare them. This way, they will cook better. After cutting, you can cook, bake or stir-fry runner beans. And in today's recipe, we cook them together with delicious pasta.
What do you need for Runner Beans & Penne Pesto?
To prepare this Runner Beans Pesto Pasta, you need the following ingredients. You can find the correct amounts in the recipe card at the bottom of the blog:
- Penne - Normally, I choose spaghetti or linguini for my pesto pasta. But the combination of sliced runner beans and penne is excellent. It's easy to toss the pesto sauce and even distribute it around the veggies and pasta. Make sure to add salt to the cooking water to give the pasta a bit of flavor. The pesto should add some, but isn't (shouldn't be) very salty.
- Runner beans - Runner beans are flatter and got a much coarser skin than that of a green bean. Thus, the beans should be sliced before using them in a recipe. Cut them in ¼ inch slices with a knife or this (or buy them already sliced). If you can't find runner beans, you could also use fresh string beans and slice them.
- Pesto - Make your own basil pesto or buy a very good one in the supermarket. Add it to the pasta when it's off the stove. Too much heat will turn the basil into a black color.
- Pine nuts - this seed gives a nutty flavor to this runner beans pesto pasta.
- Parmesan cheese - Add some grated Parmesan before serving. The cheese will melt and will combine with the penne and runner beans. So terrific.
How do you prepare creamy pesto and runner bean pasta?
You can find a printable recipe with a step-by-step description at the bottom of this blog.
- Cook the penne in a large pot in salted water for 5 minutes.
- Add the sliced runner beans and let it simmer for an extra 4 minutes.
- Drain the pasta/runner beans mixture and put everything in a bowl. Stir the pesto and pine nuts through the pasta. Use a cool bowl or pot; otherwise, the pesto will turn black because of too much heat.
- Add some grated Parmesan cheese and serve. This dish is great served with this Caprese salad.
Did you make this recipe? Tag #byandreajanssen via Instagram. I enjoy seeing what your creation looks like. Video recipes can be found on my YouTube channel. And don't forget to save the recipes on Pinterest so you can easily find them next time!
📖 Recipe
Equipment
- french bean slicer
- soup pot
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 10-12 oz. Pasta (penne and spaghetti are great)
- 1 pound runner beans washed and sliced
- ¾ cup pesto
- ⅓ cup pine nuts
- ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese to taste
Ingredients you need per step are listed below the step in Italic
Instructions
- Bring a pan with enough water and salt to a boil.2 teaspoons salt
- Add the pasta to the water and cook for 5 minutes.10-12 oz. Pasta
- Then add the runner beans to the pasta and let everything simmer for 4 minutes.1 pound runner beans
- Drain the pasta / bean mixture and put everything back in the pan.
- Stir in the pesto and the pine nuts.¾ cup pesto, ⅓ cup pine nuts
- Grate some Parmesan cheese on top and serve.⅓ cup Parmesan cheese
Notes
- Refrigerator - You can store leftover Runner beans Pesto Pasta in the fridge in an airtight container for two days. Eat this dish at room temperature. Pesto turns black when reheating, so you can't reheat leftover pesto pasta.
- Freezer - Because you can't reheat the pasta pesto, don't freeze it. It won't taste great after freezing without a reheat.
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