Pastas and Rice

America's test kitchen made this recipe and one of the changes was to cook the potatoes first, then remove the potatoes, and cook the pasta in the same water. Cook the green beans in a separate pan in a small amount of water. When the pasta is cooked, drain, but reserve about 2 cups of the pasta water. Also when making the pesto sauce, toast the garlic and nuts first. I haven't tried this recipe yet, but will make the above changes when I do.