I was gifted a grocery bag of garden fresh basil and I just knew I had to go home and turn it into pesto. Pesto is so easy to make and packs a ton of flavor. I never really measure, I just throw ingredients in the blender and it always turns out!

Basil also begs to be added to a caprese salad. Tomato, basil, mozzarella salt and olive oil…seriously simple and seriously delicious.

I combined these two basil forward recipes into a pasta that can be served warm or cold.

My basic pesto recipe is:

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 2 garlic cloves