Basil

I got a Genovese basil plant from Allen Street Farmers Market last week in hopes to spice up some of my cooking with fresh, homegrown herbs. My plant looks pretty on my kitchen windowsill and is producing lots of leaves already! For those of you who are interested in having some herbs in your kitchen or in your backyard, but may not know how to use them, I will post some cooking ideas this week.

Today, basil.

1. Throw basil on top of pizza or in a salad. Cutting basil into strips or chopping it before you eat it really brings out its flavor, but you can always leave the leaves (ha!) whole.

2. Add basil to any tomato or italian dish. Use it in spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce, or a sauce to put on top of chicken.

3. Bruschetta is one of my favorite things to make (especially when tomatoes are in season and I don't have to buy them from the grocery store):
      -Dice a few tomatoes and put into a bowl. Add 1-2 cloves of minced garlic, and 2-3 finely chopped scallions. Add 4-5 leaves of chopped basil, and 2 Tbs of balsamic vinegar, juice from 1/2 lemon, a little salt and a little pepper. Mix well.
      -Slice a french baguette (or any bread you might otherwise have), brush with olive oil, and toast in the broiler for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let bread cool, then top with the bruschetta. I like to spread goat or mozzerella cheese on my bread as well.

4. Pesto: Basil's famous antipasto.
Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.
2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.

5. Ice cubes: If you're finding that you have way too much basil to deal with at the moment, you can freeze the leaves in ice trays. Put 1 leaf in each ice slot, fill with water, and stick in the freezer. This will keep basil fresh for as long as you want it.