I've been cooking from my garden for the past couple of weeks with the basil and parsley doing particularly well.  In my continuing quest to use this bounty, this week I experimented with a new version of an old favorite - "Penne in Creamy Basil-Walnut Sauce" from Cooking Light.  This variation uses milk, white bread and walnuts for an interesting twist.  If you like pesto this "creamy" variation is a great recipe to try.  The walnuts are a nice change from pinenuts and the milk soaked bread ads an interesting texture.  The basil is the most important ingredient here though, and nothing beats using basil picked only moments earlier.   I modified the recipe just a bit by adding sautéed cremini mushrooms and by topping the dish with a few diced, freshly picked, cherry tomatoes.  Small changes but the tomatoes in particular really made the dish stand out.

As great as this dish was, my parsley and basil are constantly producing more and more and I'm always looking for new uses.  So if you have any favorite pesto variations then please, please share!

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