Stuffed Pasta Shells

To celebrate the first pruning of my basil plant, I wanted to showcase the basil. My top pick was a simple tomato, mozzarella, basil salad. However, Raquel veto-ed it because she doesn't care for raw tomatoes that much. So, it morphed into Giada's Stuffed Pasta Shells, since that's one of her favorites. I love it too. Now, I have to admit that it was such a trip to wander over to my planter in the middle of cooking, snip off some leaves, and throw them into dinner. It's making me a huge fan of eating what you grow, and some day I hope to have a huge garden where I'll never have to go to the grocery store to buy produce.

The main difference between my homegrown basil and store-bought basil was texture. My basil was still packed with flavor, but somehow the leaves seemed thinner and crisper. I'm not sure if later on it will develop a deeper, earthier flavor/texture, but I hope it does. It wasn't bad, it was just different. Although, I don't think Raquel could tell the difference, because she had three plates full.