Almond Pesto Cream Pasta

Guess I don't have a green thumb after all, it's been 2 days... a third of my basil plant as wilted  :( I think I over-watered.. or under-watered... I have no idea what though. I mean, my apt is really warm.... say...around 75 during the day, there's no draft, no windows or fans going, so it's a pretty good environment for a warm loving basil plant! I guess I should have used a dish rather than a ramekin to let the roots splay out a little more. The only plant I'm not too concerned with is my rosemary tree... but I'm sure that's on its way out soon as well, first sign of dying, I will drive it home on the weekend.... I hate killing my dad's plants.. especially his bonsai, I've done it once already... I don't want to do it another time!

Fresh Pesto... Can't get any more fresher than this... plucked from the plant... processed in a food processor... a simple no chop sauce... I decided to make a large thing of pasta because tomorrow will be a hectic day that spans from 8-5, then grocery shopping after school, and then having my weekly dinner and Revenge viewing date at my friend's place .. on the menu this week, asian tacos! :)

I didn't follow a recipe for this since I was really lazy today. I grabbed around 1/2 cup of basil leaves, 5 almonds, salt and pepper, 1 tbsp parmesan, and around 2tbsp olive oil, used a small food processor to grind it all together and set it aside. I brought around 1/3 cup half and half to a slight simmer over med-lo, and added the pesto. Once the mixture started to boil, I added a slurry of 1.5 tsp corn starch and 1 tbsp water to the mixture and stirred it quickly. Once the sauce started to thicken up, I tossed in some of the cooked pasta shells and took it off the heat. I didn't want to cook the basil too much because it starts to lose the fresh flavor. This was a no fuss, no fancy smanchy dinner.... but so easy... if only my basil plant can grow more basil.. then this meal can happen more often!