August 1, 2014 / Leslie

Cooking from the Garden: Bountiful Basil

This year, the weather has been perfect for my herb garden. For the past few weeks, the garden has been flourishing. The herbs are at their peak, and I have been using them in my recipes as often as possible. Don’t have an herb garden? Fresh herbs are readily available at farmer’s markets, and don’t forget family, friends and kindly neighbors. I often surprise people with ‘herb bouquets’.

For the next few weeks I’ll be featuring recipes from the garden. Today, basil is at its peak.

Basil

I have many uses for basil, but one of my favorites is fresh pesto sauce.

The authentic way to make pesto is to use a mortar and pestle. I don’t always have the time to spend crushing and grinding, but still want my pesto to taste good, and have the right texture and feel. Dumping all the ingredients into a blender is quick, but doesn’t produce the best results. I’ve been making pesto for years now, and in the process have discovered a few short cuts that are a good compromise.

Recipe: Basil Pesto

Ingredients

• 1 medium clove of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• ¼ teaspoon coarse salt
• 36 fresh basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated Reggiano Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ pound of pasta (230 g for the rest of the planet)

Preparation

Using a mortar and pestle, lightly crush together the garlic, salt and pine nuts. Add the basil leaves to the mixture. Here’s where I cheat: The next step is to add the basil, but before I do, I lightly cut it up using a knife or small food processor. Then I add it to the mortar and finish crushing. Gradually add the cheese. When mixed, transfer back to the food processor and add the oil. Pulse several time to mix the ingredients. Cook pasta to taste, drain and add pesto. Makes 4 servings.

If I’m really short on time, I crush the garlic, salt and pine nuts using the mortar and pestle, then transfer it to the food processor. Next, add the basil to the food processor and pulse a few times, just until it’s chopped. Then add the cheese and pulse until mixed. Add the oil and pulse a few more times.

Mezze Penne with Pesto

About the ingredients

I never use a substitute for the pine nuts, even thought they are outrageously expensive. It completely changes the taste. Toasting the pine nuts releases their flavor, but be careful, they burn easily.
Reggiano Parmesan is imported and has a sharper taste than the domestic brands, and Pecorino Romano is made using goat cheese, a distinct taste all its own.
Fresh basil is best, but properly frozen basil will work too. Basil will last over the winter if it’s coated in oil and frozen at its peak. The color of the basil will darken due to the freezing, but the taste will be almost the same.
Extra-virgin olive oil has a different taste than the basic olive oil, which is used for frying.

Now I given up all my secrets for making authentic pesto. Any tasty variations I can try?

This post is linked to Weekend Cooking, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.
Participation is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs.