Pasta with cannellini beans, roasted tomatoes and hand chopped pesto

This recipe actually came together in two parts- I made the beans with roasted tomatoes earlier in the day and had a portion for lunch with a veggie hotdog, and later when I was scouring the internet for recipes featuring basil (I just bought a basil plant), I came across this pesto recipe. I am actually generally not a huge pesto fan but chopping everything by hand makes it soooo much better than that stuff that comes out of a food processer. In the original recipe I found for the pesto (from one of my favorite food blogs 101 cookbooks), the writer prepared you to spend 30 minutes on it, but perhaps because I am not a perfectionist it took me less than 10!

First here is the recipe for the beans (loosely adapted from Elana's Pantry)

White Beans with Roasted Tomatoes and Fresh Basil

1 can cannellini beans

3-4 medium tomatoes

1 small clove of garlic

olive oil (2tbsp to 1/3 a cup- depends on how much you like olive oil)

salt to taste

balsamic vinegar

basil (about ten leaves roughly chopped)

Quarter the tomatoes and roast for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Meanwhile, drain the beans and chop the garlic. Throw the beans and garlic into a large bowl.

Once the tomatoes are done add them to the beans and garlic. Add the fresh basil, olive oil and salt and about a tablespoon of balsamic.

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As I said, I made the pesto later in the evening and added a spoonful or so to a bowl of pennette pasta. Then I added about a half a cup of the cannellini beans. I served it at room temperature (to myself- ha) and it was quite tasty. I've been eating it everyday for the last couple of days and have yet to tire of it. Actually the nice bit is that, as long as you only mix everything together when you are eating it, you can use the beans or the pesto numerous other ways. (The bean's would be great on crostini or in a salad with some nice greens. You could stir the pesto into a vegetable soup, add it to an omelette, or use it as a base for a nice pizza.)