Recipe: Pesto Chicken and Potatoes with a light String Bean Salad

Since being in Italy I have cooked a few times.  Soon I will start cooking more. Before I was just trying to settle in and get used to my new life.
That being said, the few things I have managed to cook have come out really well.
My first week here I tested out a new recipe on Endira because she's awesome and will eat my experimentations (it generally works out for both of us because we split the groceries, I get company and she gets yummy home cooked food).
On my first weekend when I was still crashing at her place I made Pesto Chicken and potatoes with a light string bean salad. It was quite delicious and everything very tender. I will complain a bit about the string beans, but only because they were a particular Italian type and had a slightly different and tougher texture. Still they were good and fresh.

The finished product or "why Endira let's me cook" :) 

Ingredients:
4 or 5 chicken legs (fresh or fully defrosted)
4 medium sized potatoes
1/2 a large onion
1 lb string beans (enough for 3 medium servings
salt and pepper to taste
Pesto sauce (normally I would make my own but this time I cheated and got a ready made at the store)
oregano
Oil and vinegar
Red pepper flakes
1-2 cups water

Preheat your oven to 350°F.  Drizzle a small amount of olive oil into a round baking tin.  Cut your potatoes into small chunks and toss into the olive oil. Dice your onion and mix into the potatoes.  Season with red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste.  Don't overdo it on the salt, because the pesto from the chicken should have enough salt already.
Slather each chicken leg with 1 to 2 teaspoons of pesto. Make sure each drumstick is covered completely and lay on top of the potatoes.  Sprinkle with a little more red pepper flakes if you want some extra kick.
Cover the potatoes entirely with water and place in oven uncovered.  They should bake like this for about 45 minutes to an hour.  Check on the chicken every twenty minutes or so.  I didn't turn the chicken so one side got very crispy (without burning) and the inside retained a lot of moisture.
As for the string beans, bring a pot of water with a little salt to boil after cleaning the green beans. Boil for about 10 minutes but keep an eye on them, because they're start to loose their vibrant green if they cook for too long. Drain and immediately put into the fridge or into a cold bath of water so they stop cooking.  In a bowl dress with olive oil, a small amount of vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper.  I like to serve the string beans cool, but they're good warm as well.
Serve all together on the plate when the potatoes are fork tender!