This gorgeous pesto celebrates three very special and very delicious summer ingredients: tomatoes, walnuts and bouncing, booming summer basil. For me, tomatoes are the epitome of summer, a celebration of sunshine and sweetness encapsulated in firm, tight-skinned, brightly coloured spheres of red, orange, gold, green or purple. I wait impatiently for their arrival every. single. year, toes twitching as I anticipate that first burst of sweet, sunshine-y goodness.

absolutely love roasting chillies. It seems to intensify all their delicious flavour, and you get a gorgeous smoky accent from the remnants of their blackened skin. Removing their seeds renders them mellow and warm but not fiery hot. Roasted chillies are the perfect pairing for some milky, cooling buffalo mozzarella, some bright, fresh basil leaves, some zingy lemon and a soothing drizzle of olive oil to bring it all together. I also love to use fresh summer tomatoes in this dish when they're in season, but it's just as tasty without them, so feel free to whip this up any time you get your hands on some lovely chillies. You could do without the basil too if you wanted to.