Garden Fresh Pesto Sauce
For the pesto:
Briefly soak and wash the basil on cold water, and gently pat it thoroughly dry with paper towels. Do not bruise the pesto, as it will turn a darker shade of green.
Poach the garlic. Peel the garlic cloves and place in a small pan of salted water. Bring to a simmer. Once a simmer is reached, drain and repeat three more times to remove the garlic's heat and leave only the sweetness behind. (Save the reserve garlic water for the pasta - it will have a sweet, distinctive smell without the bite of true garlic).
In a shallow pan, toast the pine nuts over medium heat for about 4 minutes or until they have begun to brown.
Put the basil, arugula or spinach, olive oil, toasted pine nuts, chopped garlic, and an ample pitch of sea salt into a food processor, and process to a uniform, creamy consistency. Make sure to coat each basil leaf with the olive oil before turning the food processor on, and ensure that an ample squeeze of lemon is added as well. Both of these measures will help to protect the vibrant green color of the basil leaves from oxidizing and turning brown. Also, adding the spinach or arugula will keep the sauce green, as those two leaves do not oxidize and brown when chopped as basil does.
Transfer to a bowl, and mix in the softened butter, distributing it uniformly into the sauce. Add light pepper to taste.
When spooning the pesto over the pasta, dilute it slightly with a tablespoon or two of the hot water in which the pasta was cooked or the garlic was poached.
For the pasta:
Cook the white and spinach fettuccine in salted, boiling water (using the left-over water from the quadruple-poached garlic) for 3 minutes. Drain well.
Spoon the pesto sauce over the pasta. Stir well, adding in the green bean thirds and the parmiagano-reggiano.
Serve family style or in separate serving bowls with the baby spinach leaves, sun-dried tomatoes and romano cheese as garnish on top.
