Yesterday was another gorgeous sunny day and it truly felt like summer, after spending the afternoon in the garden chatting to Andrea the day ended perfectly with Stephen and Rieanna joining us for dinner.

I miss Simon and Stephen so much and nothing makes me happier than when they come back home for a visit. Last night for the second night running Stephen and his lovely girlfriend Rieanna were at home and we had such a lovely evening, Stephen never fails to have us in stitches and the love and loyalty he has for his family never fails to overwhelm me, he is adorable. Rieanna complements him so well and we all love her to bits, she is a huge part of our family now, poor girl!

I decided to make the second salad from my chosen four, from my new book ‘ a Perfect day for a Picnic’, this one is made with a homemade pesto and makes this basil, mozzarella and orzo salad divine. Now I have only recently started to eat and enjoy basil and pesto, so I am not the best critic for this recipe, it didn’t rock my world, but it was very nice, the rest of the family however absolutely loved it, so you can’t have a higher recommendation than that as they can be very fussy indeed.

Hubby and Stephen loved it so much that they had about three helpings and Hubby has taken the leftovers to work for lunch today, so it must of been a huge hit.

It is another lovely salad to add to your repertoire, again perfect for BBQ’s, to take to a party as a side dish and as it uses ingredients that can be found all year round it is perfect for any time of the year. It is a little more fussy to make, as you have to make the pesto, but if you were in a hurry you could always cheat and use a good quality jar pesto.

So another great salad and another perfect summers day, a lovely afternoon with a friend, family around the table for dinner, then as the sun set a walk around the park with Hubby, Luca and Jenson where we met the most lovely man with two gorgeous Cocker Spaniels, I now am completely in long and know what I want as my second dog, they are just so cute! Then back home and while Luca got ready for bed, Hubby tidied the kitchen and as the evening cooled I did all the watering in the garden, it was so peaceful and quiet a perfect end to a fabulous day.

Buon appetito

Serves 2 ( I just tripled it for my brood)

A large handful of fresh basil, roughly chopped
20g finely grated Parmesan
1 garlic clove
25g/3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts (plus a few to garnish)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
175g orzo pasta
150g buffalo mozzarella, torn (Laverstoke Farm Park do a gorgeous one)
50g cup sun-blushed (semi-dried) tomatoes, roughly chopped (I also added the oil to the salad as it was so lovely)
A handful of wild rocket
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a blender, whizz most of the basil, saving a few leaves back for garnishing later, the grated Parmesan, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, hey presto, you have pesto !!!

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the orzo and cook for 8 minutes or until al dente. Drain and refresh under cold running water before draining again.

In a large bowl, combine the orzo and pesto, mix thoroughly, then add the torn mozzarella, chopped tomatoes, rocket and toss well.

Garnish with a few sprigs of basil, a sprinkling of pine nuts and in my case a few edible flowers just to make it look stunning.