Tag Archives: basil

Pesto Gone Wild

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The clock is ticking for this year’s herb garden. As we approach frost-like temps in the evening, I know my basil has a limited life span. So, I did some heavy pruning on the basil this weekend and whipped up another batch of pesto to put up for the winter (remember pasta al pesto genovese?). While I was at it, I noticed that  parsley was in need of a trim, too, so did the same for my flat-leafed friend. Did you know you can make a rather tasty pesto sauce out of parsley, too? And arugula, as well, but sadly, don’t have any growing in my garden just yet. Stay tuned for updates on the cold frame…

I followed a recipe from my trusty “How to Cook Everything” by Mark Bittman. From memory, it is something like this:

Ingredients:

2 cups tightly packed, washed and dried parsley leaves
2 cloves garlic, peeled
zest and juice from 1 small lemon
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (can also use walnuts)
3/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

Lemon zest, parsley, garlic and toasted pine nuts ready to whirl

Instructions:

Place all ingredients in food processor or blender, but use only 1/2 of the olive oil. Pulse several times and then drizzle in remaining olive oil until desired consistency is reached. Taste for salt and pepper. Will stay in the fridge for 3 days, or pour a small layer of olive oil on top and freeze. Delicious on pasta, meats, fish, panini, etc.

I enjoyed reading RachelEats’s blog post about her parsley pesto as well. Check it out here.

Freezer-ready pesto

It’s Thursday and I’ve finally covered off on all of last weekend’s cooking escapades.

Life is Good

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I was fortunate enough to be asked to pickup another great haul from Wolfe Spring Farm this Labor Day weekend. It was a lovely bounty with awesome produce. Unfortunately, our house guests happened to get in the way of me photographing and blogging everything we did with the food. So……It started with a margarita made with fresh watermelon juice and WSF jalapeños. Its a delicious summer drink. After two of those I forgot all about the blog so don’t have any pics of that evening. Then, we made an awesome tomato salad with some fresh mozzarella, WSF tomatoes and some micro greens from Zinks farm down the road. Drizzle some white balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and that’s it! Next, I made an improvised ratatouille with the WSF eggplant, peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, basil, and a few other things. It came out really well and will be my lunch for the next few days. Perhaps I’ll add some chick peas.

Watermelon Jalapeño Margarita

Make some fresh watermelon juice. Muddle a jalapeño pepper or two in a cocktail shaker. Add lots of ice. Put in a splash of lime juice (about a half lime per serving) add tequila (we used Patron Silver because its so clean tasting and complements the watermelon but a smokier liquor could be interesting) and watermelon juice to your taste. Shake and serve up or over ice. Since I don’t have a pic, you’ll have to take my word for it – it was gorgeous to behold and drink.

The Haul. Artistic License Disclaimer: The peaches are not WSF and I neglected to put the raspberries in the photo.

Beautiful Sunflowers

It doesn’t get much better than this at the end of the summer………..

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, no Time

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Next, we made an amazing grille-roasted chicken with a Wolfe Springs Farm naturally raised chicken, some WSF fingerling potatoes, some herbs from our garden and some WSF tomatoes.

Slip a few herbs under the chicken’s skin, cram some lemon wedges and whole herbs in the cavity, salt and pepper everything in sight and throw it in a pan (this one was a wedding gift that we dedicated to the grill) cook for a while, add some sliced onions and crushed garlic, cook until done, serve with sliced fresh WSF tomatoes and chopped basil. The whole cooking time was about 1.5 hours – just enough time to have a bloody mary or two. This was a truly sublime feast.

The raw ingredients

“How Easy is That?” Dave at the grill, channeling Ina Garten.

Work in Progress

Add onions and WSF garlic

BOOM! Dinnuh!

Nearly Rained-Out Bruschetta Bar

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It was so hot and humid Saturday night. It drizzled and cleared up so many times we didn’t know whether to stay outside or not. Just in time for some wine and snacks, the weather stabilized. Low heavy fog, sunny up on the top of the hill, wine and bruschetta. What’s not to like?

So, back to the point of all this. With the lovely cherry tomatoes from Wolfe Spring Farm we made a classic, simple bruschetta. We quartered a quart of the tomatoes, tossed them with some salt and drained out the liquid for an hour or so. Then, we tossed them with a little bit of chopped fresh garlic (one or two cloves) black pepper and a bit more salt, let them sit and drain for another half hour then tossed in some fresh chopped basil from our garden and, presto! It was summer on a piece of grilled toast (Berkshire Mountain Bakery sourdough baguette, sliced, drizzled with olive oil and grilled until crispy). We also served some buratta (courtesy of our weekend guest) and some homemade hummus (nothing local or fresh except the parsley……nobody is perfect.) this was supposed to be the first course but we were so satisfied we stopped and went straight to the banana black pepper ice cream.ImageImageImageImageImageImage

Another Great Corn Recipe: Sauteed Corn with Fresh Herbs Galore

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Sure everyone loves corn on the cob. But after the first few butter-slathered corn on the cobs of the season, most folks start to wonder what to do with all those ears of corn. We had a bunch from our CSA pick-up, and as June reminded me, corn does not last. Fresh corn is a limited time only treat, and we all want to make the most of it.

Hubs and I discovered an awesome recipe in Bon Appetit a few years ago that has become one of our go-to recipes for summer corn. Sauteed Corn with Tons of Herbs is simple, easy and takes advantage of other seasonal items like fresh herbs and shallots. What else are you going to do with that parsley and basil gone wild in your garden?

From Bon Appetit:Summer Corn Saute with Tons of Herbs

This is an easy recipe, but it does take some elbow grease. First, remove the corn from the cobs.

Preparation: Corn removed from cobs

Next, chop up your herbs and shallots:

Hubs Handiwork: perfectly minced herbs and shallots

Then saute the shallots and cumin seeds in some butter, add the corn and continue to lightly saute. Remove from flame and fold in herbs. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve. Delicious warm or cold. Leftovers always welcome.

What do you do with summer corn once your love affair with corn on the cob has ended?

Pasta al Pesto Genovese per il Pranzo di Domenica, or Sunday lunch Italian-Style

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A few days late, but wanted to share details on Sunday’s yummy lunch, prepared primarily from Saturday’s CSA pick-up. We made a delicious, traditional Pasta al Pesto Genovese. The traditional version is prepared with boiled potatoes and green beans in addition to your standard pesto. You use the same boiled water for the veggies as the pasta, giving the pasta another layer of flavor. I was inspired by a few things:

  • String beans, potatoes and garlic in our CSA stash
  • Basil plant in my garden growing like wild. Growing like wild for Western Massachusetts, not the Mediterranean, meaning it was about 6″ high, bright green and bushy, and in want of a haircut
  • My upcoming trip to the Italian seaside (please don’t hate me)

I’ve only had this dish in restaurants or at someone’s home and never prepared it on my own, so I was excited to give it a whirl. Here’s the final product:

Pasta al Pesto Genovese with local green beans, potatoes and pesto

It did not disappoint. Hubs and I loved it. We used orecchiette pasta (shaped like little ears) because  it would be easier for little Sam to eat than spaghetti, which would be the traditional pasta to use. Ironically, omnivorous Sam wanted nothing to do with the Pasta al Pesto lovingly prepared by his parents. Normally a big fan of pasta, I guess he’s just not that into pesto. His loss. Here’s the recipe for 4 servings

Pasta al Pesto Genovese

  • 2 medium new potatoes, sliced 1/4″ thick
  • 1/4 – 1/2 pound string beans, trimmed and cut into 2″ pieces
  • 1/2 pound spaghetti (or other long, thin pasta)
  • Pesto. Here is a basic recipe to follow (1/2 a batch should do, and you can keep the rest of the batch for another use)
  • 2-3 tablespoons reserved cooking liquid from the pasta

Instructions:

  • Fill a large pot halfway with water and bring to a boil. Salt generously and add potatoes. Cook until tender. Remove from pot with slotted spoon and set aside Some recipes instruct you to cook the potatoes whole, then slice them after they’ve been boiled. I think it is easier to start with the potatoes sliced so you don’t have to wait for them to cool later
  • Add string beans to the same pot of water. Cook until tender (not overcooked), and remove with slotted spoon and set aside.
  • Add pasta to water and cook according to directions on package. Test for doneness and reserve a few tablespoons of the cooking water when you drain the pasta.
  • Toss the pasta in a serving bowl with the pesto, potatoes, string beans and cooking liquid (as needed). Serve immediately.