Basil is ridiculously easy to grow. Like its fuss-free gardenmates mint and oregano, it thrives with minimal attention, flourishing at its own merry pace until it threatens to take over your whole garden — at which point it becomes annoying.
(Which reminds me of the basil sold in supermarkets: I imagine the retailers and suppliers laughing all the way to the bank, charging so much for something that is costlier to package than it is to grow. Now there’s a thought. Maybe I should get in on the racket. After all, I’ve got more basil than I know what to do with.)
If you had asked me a few years ago what basil was, all I would have mustered was that it’s… an herb. Boo-hoo for me, because basil is actually a common tropical plant, although its local utilization is more folk-medicinal than culinary. “Why, that’s hamutan!” exclaimed the incredulous cook who knew her basil as a poultice for sores and as an ingredient in ilimnon, the cure-all herbal drink. And I thought I had brought home some exotic trophy. Score one for the help.
Like I said, basil could get over-enthusiastic. They were everywhere (did I really plant that many?), teetering every which way on long, woody stems — that last fact a reminder of my failure to stop it from flowering. Truth be told, I have not been paying much attention to my herbs lately. The mint and oregano had jumped their beds and were choking their neighbors. The chives had turned horizontal from being too top-heavy. The arugula languished. The tarragon? Gone the way of last year’s sage, i.e., dead. Definitely not a great moment in my gardening career.
And so on to work. I started out innocently enough: snipping here, trimming there, and some pruning for the truly errant ones. But then the devil got ahold of me and I proceeded to uproot every single one of the damned basil. That showed them who was boss. It also left me with a phenomenal amount of fresh leaves after I replanted some of the cuttings. Guess what I made with it?
Pesto!
Use as pasta sauce or as garnish for soups. Substitute for pizza sauce or mix with any creamy cheese for an herbed spread.
- 4 cups basil leaves
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 cups olive oil
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- ½ cup pine nuts
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Wash basil leaves and pat dry. Peel garlic.
- Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and purée.
- Transfer to a sterilized jar, top with olive oil, and store in the refrigerator. It can also be frozen in portions.
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