Pesto, Courgette & Ricotta Butter Beans

Fresh, bright and silky, this is everything you love about a classic basil pesto pasta - but lighter, greener and even more satisfying thanks to the jammy courgettes and glossy Queen Butter Beans. The homemade pesto is worth every whizz - but a shop-bought pesto will do just fine too! Finished with cool dollops of ricotta and lemon zest, it’s the kind of speedy dinner you’ll mop up with crusty bread and wonder how something this simple tastes that good.

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Ingredients

courgette 2 (sliced)
garlic cloves 2
Bold Bean Queen butter beans 570 g
pine nuts 50 g (toasted)
olive oil 4 tbsp
fresh basil 1 handful
Parmesan 25 g (grated)
ricotta 250 g
lemon 1 (zest & juice)
sourdough 100 g

Method

Slice the courgettes into sliced 0.5cm thicks rounds (thicker courgettes sliced into half moons). Crush half the garlic cloves for the pesto and thinly slice the rest for cooking the beans.
Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes until just golden, shaking the pan often to stop the nuts from burning. Remove and set aside.
In the same pan you cooked the pine nuts in, heat a glug of olive oil in a pan over a medium-low heat. Add the courgettes with a pinch of salt and gently cook for 8-10 minutes until they soften and turn a little jammy - stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, make the pesto: Reserve a small handful of the pine nuts for garnish. Add the remaining nuts, basil, crushed garlic, grated parmesan, pinch of salt and black pepper and the olive oil to a blender or food processor and blitz until you reach an oozy, pesto-like consistency. You may need to add more oil to bind the mixture together.
Add the sliced garlic to the courgettes and cook for one minute until fragrant.
Tip in the Bold Bean Queen butter beans with their bean stock, stir to combine in with the courgettes and gently heat for about 2 minutes.
Add the pesto to the beans and stir to combine. Continue to warm through until everything is glossy, saucy and well coated.
Spoon the beans into bowls and dollop over the ricotta. Scatter over the reserved pine nuts, grate over the lemon zest, then season to taste with lemon juice. Finish with a few cracks of black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Mop up with the sourdough.

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Pesto, Courgette & Ricotta Butter Beans

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