I could never get bored of pesto. I don't mean the pesto out of jars that you can buy in supermarkets and delicatessens. Yes, they make an easy, quick and healthy supper, but home-made pesto probably takes ten minutes more to pull together and tastes a million times better - and it needs no forward planning.

Take some nuts (pine nuts if you are being a stickler for a really authentic pesto Genovese), some olive oil, a bundle of fresh herbs and a little parmesan and you have the makings of a splendid sauce. This not only dresses pasta but also goes beautifully on fish, perks up sandwiches and makes a coating for extremely naughty fried chicken.

The great thing about a pesto sauce is that you can get creative with the ingredients (as long as you don't call it a pesto in front of an Italian grandmother). In particular I love walnuts in a pesto for their meatiness, hazelnuts for their sweetness, or a blend of them with pine nuts, which have that wonderful rounded flavour that makes pesto taste so good.

Once you have decided on your preferred nuts, you can decide on herbs. Basil is the normal choice and is at its best in the summer, but my passion for mint often has me going for that. Just as a mix of nuts can make a good pesto, a blend of fresh herbs can be delicious.

Mint provides that sprightly, perky flavour that always makes me think of green lawns, sunshine and Pimm's; basil has that herby, vaguely aniseedy taste of summer; tarragon and chervil - which go beautifully with fish if you are wanting to drizzle dressing on salmon or mackerel - are strong in flavour and need to be mixed in with herbs such as parsley to balance out their strength.

If you worry about authenticity, don't. Italians have been blending herbs for centuries in dressings such as salsa verde, and mint pops up in recipes all over Sicily. When you don't care about authenticity, you can just relax and have fun inventing your supper. Once you have the herbs and the nuts decided all you need is a wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano (although Italians have been known to use Pecorino) and a beautiful bottle of extra virgin olive oil.

As in all cooking, your pesto will be as good as its ingredients. In particular the olive oil, which will bind all the other ingredients and loosen the pasta. If you are worrying about cost, console yourself with the fact that this recipe has no expensive meat or fish and yet it will give you the most satisfying and fulfilling supper. Even my most staunch meat-loving friends do not complain when they eat a bowlful of home-made pasta pesto.

The recipe

Summery pasta Genovese

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