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Pasta with a basic pesto sauce is a casual dinner to enjoy any time. But it’s particularly nice eaten outside on a warm summer evening (and fall doesn’t officially begin until September 23rd). The beauty of pesto is you don’t have to cook it. Just pop a few ingredients into your blender or food processor and - Presto! It’s pesto!

For a delicious pasta and pesto dinner, simply cook some of your favorite pasta and drain it (but save some of the water for making the pesto – see recipe, below). Make the pesto, then pour some of it onto the pasta and mix the two items together. Grate a little extra Parmesan onto the pasta, if desired. Serve with a green salad, crusty bread, and a glass of your favorite wine.

Here’s a recipe for traditional Basil Pesto, taken from the cookbook, EVERYDAY ITALIAN, by Giada De Laurentiis.

BASIL PESTO

2 c. (packed) fresh basil leaves
1/4 c. toasted pine nuts
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste
About 2/3 c. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a blender, pulse the basil, pine nuts, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper until finely chopped. With the blender still running, gradually add enough oil to form a smooth and thick consistency. Transfer the pesto to a medium bowl and stir in the cheese. Season the pesto with more salt and pepper to taste.

The pesto can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

And here’s the SECRET to making pesto into a great pasta dressing. “Mix in just enough of the pasta cooking liquid to get the pesto to coat the pasta, but not so much that you’ve created pesto soup,” says De Laurentiis. She also says that while traditional pesto is a green sauce made with pounded basil and pine nuts, “these days any uncooked sauce that’s easy, quick, and pureed can be called a pesto.”

Look for additional pesto recipes in her cookbook.

Another Favorite Recipe from Ireland Reynolds