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A bounty of basil

Fresh basil is a sublime ingredient to have on hand to accent your cooking. It is used extensively in Mediterranean and Thai cooking. Easily grown and harvested – anyone with a sunny spot and room for a pot of soil should try to grow some because fresh is incomparable to any dried basil.

Harvesting

Harvest your basil in one of two ways. It is best picked in the morning after the dew has dried, but it is fine anytime. Either pick off a few individual leaves, or for more basil, snip off tips of branches. Just remember to only pick no more than 10 to 20 percent of the basil plant in order to insure its health and harvest more in the future. Only harvest from the top of the plant to encourage new bushy growth.

To Cut or Not to Cut?

To add basil to a salad or a sandwich, just pinch off any stems and add the whole leaves. The basil leaves may also be stacked, rolled up and then sliced diagonally for pretty and flavorful green strips. These strips may be added to almost anything calling for fresh basil. At this point you can keep cutting and chop it finely for other purposes.

Washing

Submerge your basil in a large bowl or sink of salted water (about 1 tablespoon per large bowl or 2 tablespoons for a sinkful) and shake around in the water. This will clean and also debug the leaves. Shake off excess water and pat with paper towels if you need it to be dry.

Storing Basil

Basil does not keep long when fresh. Sprigs may be kept in a glass of water on the counter for a couple of days. You may freeze whole cleaned leaves in freezer containers for later use in pesto. Give fresh basil a short whirl in your blender or food processor with a little water, and then freeze in ice cube trays. The same thing may be done using some olive oil instead of water. Pop out the cubes and store in freezer bags. Use within six months. Add the cubes to soups, sauces, and vegetable dishes. It is possible to dry basil by hanging up the sprigs in a dark cool room, but it loses a lot (but not all) of its flavor this way.

Basil Recipes

When many people think basil, pesto automatically comes to mind. Pesto is a blend of basil, garlic, pine nuts, Romano or Parmesan cheese, salt, and olive oil — but the recipe is open to interpretation.

I prefer Romano cheese (it has a bolder flavor), sea salt, and only extra virgin olive oil. Instead of pine nuts, one may use walnuts or roasted almonds. Some fresh tomato can be added for a spread on toasted Italian bread. Pesto can also be frozen – again in ice cube trays – then store the cubes in heavy-duty freezer bags. If freezing, omit the cheese and add when thawed. Almost always add basil at the very end of cooking time (last five minutes) for most recipes.

Basic Pesto

3 large garlic cloves

1

/

2

cup pine nuts (or walnuts or almonds)

2

/

3

cup Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano (my preference)

1 tsp. sea salt

1

/

2

tsp. freshly ground black pepper

3 cups loosely packed fresh basil

2

/

3

-cup extra-virgin olive oil

With food processor running, drop in garlic and chop fine. Stop the machine and add nuts, cheese, salt, pepper, and basil – start machine, put on lid and add olive oil while chopping until all is incorporated. Will keep covered in refrigerator for a week.

Use this delicious sauce on pasta, pizza, potatoes, bread, vegetables, and anything else you can think of!

Pan-fried Chicken With

Red Pepper Pesto

2 jars roasted red peppers, drained well

2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

2 tablespoons freshly grated

Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon garlic-flavored olive oil

4 (4- to 6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breasts, pounded to uniform thickness

In a food processor, combine red peppers, pine nuts and Parmesan cheese and process until pureed. With machine running, drizzle in olive oil. Set aside.

In a large well-oiled skillet over medium heat, add chicken and cook for 4 to 6 minutes per side, or until cooked through.

Transfer to serving plate and top chicken with pesto.