The recipe appears for Pasta Salad with Pesto appears in “The Complete Make-Ahead Cookbook.”Associated Press

More light and refreshing than a cream-based sauce or a chunky ragu, pesto makes for an excellent accompaniment to pasta during the hot summer months.

It couldn’t be simpler to make; just process fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, salty Parmesan cheese, and extra-virgin olive oil together in a food processor.

However, a few challenges arose when we tried to transform the simple sauce into a cold pasta salad topping. When we tossed the pesto directly with hot pasta the sauce became separated and greasy as the pasta cooled.

We found that spreading the pasta on a baking sheet for about half an hour before adding the pesto was enough to adequately combat the problem. To help prevent the pesto from turning dark over time we added a handful of baby spinach, which set the bright green color, but was mild enough in flavor to let the basil shine.

Finally we found that adding some mayonnaise was the perfect way to give our pesto the clingy, thick texture ideal for a pasta salad.

We finished off our salad by reserving some of the toasted pine nuts to add a nice nutty crunch and tossed in sweet cherry tomatoes for a bright burst of freshness. Other pasta shapes can be substituted for the farfalle.