Sun-blushed tomato pesto : preheat the oven to 100?. Slice the tomatoes half lengthways and lay seed side up, on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle over a pinch of dried thyme, sea salt and olive oil. Allow to dehydrate for 3 hours. ( allow 4-5 hours if using large tomatoes)
Remove from the oven and blitz all the pesto ingredients together. Save a handful of tomatoes for your garnish. Rinse out a glass jar with boiling water to sterilise and pour in the pesto. Cover and it will last in the fridge for 5-7 days.
Chicken: Place in an oven proof dish on tin foil. Sprinkle with cracked black pepper and sea salt. Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 25minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
Pasta: Boil 3 litres water in a very large saucepan. Add 1 tbsp salt. Bring to the boil and add in the pasta. Stir once after 20-30 seconds. Cover until the water comes back to the boil and then remove the lid. Cook for 18-20 minutes until the pasta is to your liking or al dente. When cooked drain through a sieve, reserving at least 200mls of the cooking water. Never rinse your pasta.
When the pasta is drained, stir in half the pesto into the saucepan and combine with the cooking water. ( add more pesto as you go to your taste preference.)
Tear in the buffalo mozzarella and stir will until it melts and the sauce becomes a creamy consistency. Add some milk little by little to loosen it up and add a little more creaminess. Shred the chicken and stir in.
Taste, season and serve up family style in a large bowl in the middle of the table garnished with parmesan cheese and small fresh basil leaves.
