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Butter beans with ricotta and basil sunflower seed pesto, shared outdoors with Honest Toil olive oil

By Honest Toil

Butter Beans with Ricotta & Sunflower Seed Pesto

Creamy butter beans and ricotta with a punchy basil and sunflower seed pesto, finished with plenty of good olive oil.

A very easy summer plate for when it's far too warm to spend much time cooking. Creamy butter beans and ricotta are topped with a punchy homemade basil and sunflower seed pesto, plenty of lemon and, of course, a generous amount of Honest Toil.

The only real cooking involved is a couple of minutes toasting the sunflower seeds, making this a good one for quick lunches, lazy dinners or putting in the middle of the table with some very good bread.

Toasting sunflower seeds for basil pesto with Honest Toil olive oil Butter beans with ricotta and pesto on an outdoor table with Honest Toil olive oil

Ingredients

For the pesto

  • 1 large bunch fresh basil (roughly 20g)
  • 1 good handful sunflower seeds
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 4–5 tbsp Honest Toil extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving
  • Sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper

For the beans

  • 1 jar butter beans
  • 250g ricotta
  • Zest of ½ lemon
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Honest Toil extra virgin olive oil, to finish

Method

  1. Toast the sunflower seeds
    Add the sunflower seeds to a dry frying pan over a medium heat and toast for 2–3 minutes, shaking the pan regularly, until lightly golden and fragrant. Keep an eye on them – they can catch quickly!
  2. Make the pesto
    Finely chop the toasted sunflower seeds and basil. Add them to a bowl with the crushed garlic, a good pinch of salt and black pepper, and 4–5 tablespoons of olive oil.
    Mix everything together, adding another glug of olive oil if needed, until you have a loose, spoonable pesto.
  3. Prepare the butter beans
    Add the butter beans to a pan along with a small amount of the water from the jar. Warm gently over a medium-low heat for 4–5 minutes, until the beans are warmed through and the liquid has reduced slightly.
  4. Bring it all together
    Spoon the warm beans onto your serving plate and dollop the ricotta over the top. Drizzle generously with the basil pesto and scatter over the lemon zest. Finish with plenty of cracked black pepper and a final drizzle of olive oil.

Serve straight away with good bread for scooping up all the pesto and ricotta.

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