VERSATILE BASIL

                                                         Versatile Basil

 

          Fresh basil is one of summer’s great gifts to the cook. It’s bright green color and flavor add a special dash to food in both cooking and presentation and because the flavor significantly diminishes when preserved by drying or cooking, we cherish their fresh flavor in summer.

          Basil comes in many different varieties of leaf shape and colors from the familiar Italian Genovese cooking green to reddish purple, each with a different subtle additional flavoring such cinnamon or citrus of Lemon basil. The plant has a 5000-year history in India and general South Eastern Asia.

It’s most famous culinary product is pesto, a pounded mixture of basil, pine nuts, lemon, garlic and Parmesan cheese used for enhancing the flavor of many soups, pasta, tomatoes and even fish or chicken. In past, pesto was the ‘auditioning’ preparation with which new chefs were admitted to famous restaurant kitchens by pounding all those ingredients in a mortar and pestle in record time. Fortunately, modern blenders have made this preparation more accessible to everyone else.

          Fresh basil leaves brighten up our summer tomato caprese salads with mozzarella or burrata, Kalamata olives and balsamic dressing. Basil can be tucked in bacon-lettuce sandwiches with surprisingly flavorful results, and add a summer flavor to pasta, chicken, fish and bean or lentil salads. Fortunately, it is easy to grow in a pot on a porch or even a front step, which gives the cook continued fresh supply throughout the summer.  

                                         Buttery-lemon-basil pasta

          Cook 8 oz. Cavatappi (short corkscrews) pasta in boiling water for 9 minutes.

While pasta is boiling, melt 1/3 cup of butter in a large pan on low heat. Carefully stir in 1 cup salt water from the pasta and cook to slightly reduced volume. Remove pasta after 9 minutes with a slotted spoon directly into the butter mixture and stir to coat.

          Add ½ cup packed torn basil leaves, 1 ½ tbsp. fresh lemon juice and 1 tsp. grated lemon rind. Stir and cook 3-4 minutes more until sauce is somewhat thickened and coats the pasta. Remove from heat and stir in ½ cup Parmesan cheese and 10 small thin slices of Genoa salami cut in thick strips. Serve garnished with additional basil leaves and black sesame seeds.

          Panzanella or Italian bread salad goes back to Middle Ages when peasants used to reconstitute old, dried bread with flavored olive oil and vinegar using purslane as a flavoring tart green in the salad. Purslane has an unfortunate look alike in spurge which will give you a very upset stomach. Once tomatoes arrived from America, they became the more reliable ingredient in Panzanella and have become an essential safe substitute ingredient for this dish.

                                          Panzanella-Tuscan bread salad

          Balsamic dressing: 3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, 1 tsp. kosher salt, ¼ tsp. pepper, small pinch of sugar and 4-5 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil.

          In a large bowl assemble 4 cups cubed sourdough or Cibatta bread, a day or more old. Add 1 ½ cups halved cherry tomatoes, 1 cup torn basil leaves, ½ cup red onion thin sliced, ½ cup seeded thin sliced red pepper, and ½ cup seeded thin sliced green pepper. Toss all with ½ tsp salt and the dressing. Allow flavors to blend for at least an hour and serve as a side to grilled meat, sausage or fish, garnished with additional basil. For a vegetarian meal serve with deviled eggs.

          Do not refrigerate cut basil. Basil is best kept at room temperature in water, replenishing the water every day. In fact, basil kept that way will often sprout roots, which then can be planted in a pot with soil and will keep you in basil for a good part of the winter when placed on a sunny windowsill.

(I. Winicov Harrington lives in coastal Maine and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day…”and “Uncharted Journey from Riga”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)