Meatless Monday: With Basil In Season — It’s Pesto Time!

When the days are perfect for spending time at the beach — long, hot, and sunny — conditions are also right for growing a bumper crop of basil.

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Basil is a highly fragrant annual in the Lamiaceae (mint) family, with origins in the tropical Old World. Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is the most familiar, but there are a number of other varieties — in colors ranging from light green to purple, and with flavors from “classic” to licorice.

Many sites tout basil’s antioxidant and antibacterial properties; WebMD states that two tablespoons of chopped fresh basil provide 27% of the RDA of Vitamin K, as well as significant amounts of vitamin A, manganese, and magnesium.

Basil requires lots of sun, and frequent watering during dry spells, but it does well in either a garden or a good-sized container. If you are interested in growing your own, check out these tips on the Old Farmer’s Almanac site [The tips are good; ignore the hokeyness of the site.] 

Now is the time to find basil in plentiful supply at the farmer’s market, where it is sold by the bunch at likely the lowest prices of the season.

Pesto (“paste” in Italian) is what I always make when I have a large quantity on hand, as I did on Saturday. I turned to a favorite source — Beard on Pasta  — for a recipe. Beard’s “Pesto” calls for pignoli (pine nuts) and pecorino or Parmesan cheese, the traditional ingredients. But this time I opted for his alternate version which calls for walnuts as a substitute for pignoli. Vegans rejoice! Cheese is NOT an ingredient in Beard’s “Pesto with Walnuts.” It was delicious served atop of a bowl of rotini, whose spiral shape holds pesto so well. [If you find you miss the cheese, just add a few curls of Parmesan.]

PESTO with WALNUTS

Ingredients

• 4 cups basil leaves
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup Italian parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 to 1 cup olive oil 

Method

• Remove the stems from the basil and parsley.
• Wash well and spin dry.
• Put the basil, garlic, walnuts, parsley, and salt into the food processor with 1/2 cup of olive oil. 
• Process, adding just enough additional oil to make a smooth paste.

Often served as a topping with pasta (hot or cold), pesto has many other uses, from soups and salads to sandwiches and vegetable toppings. 

Google “Basil Pesto” for more ideas. If you plan to freeze your leftovers for winter use, note that most recipes call for freezing WITHOUT cheese. You can add in the cheese of your choice once your pesto is thawed.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to prepare some great, low-cost summer meals and to put some food by for the winter — all without cooking!  

Happy Monday. Have a great week!

On Mondays I often blog on food, food issues, or gardening in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”

Meatless Monday: Freezing the Taste of Summer

The last full day of summer in New Haven was wonderful! The rain held off until after midnight, leaving us with intermittent sun, dramatic skies, and temperatures warm enough to sport shorts and short sleeves. It was the perfect day to head up the shoreline to Bishop’s Orchards in Guilford to pick fall apples and to purchase some of the last treats of summer— sweet corn, peaches, and basil.

We enjoyed the corn the very same day, after boiling it gently just until it was tender — 5 minutes for good-sized ears, no more. 

The peaches are ripening on the windowsill.

Yesterday I turned the basil into pesto.

Pam was correct in her comment about James Beard; one of his best recipes is the one for Pesto in Beard on Pasta. It’s the one I always use.

James Beard’s Pesto

INGREDIENTS

4 cups fresh basil leaves

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup pignoli

1/2 cup Italian parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 to 1 cup olive oil

1/2 cup pecorino or Parmesan cheese

• Put the basil, garlic, pignoli, parsley, and salt into a food processor or blender with 1/2 cup olive oil. 
• Process, adding enough additional oil to make a smooth paste. 
• Add the cheese, and process a few seconds longer.

How easy is this?! 

Pesto has so many uses — from topping pasta to flavoring soups or stews. I like to spoon it over freshly-steamed green beans. The aroma of pesto warming up is simply divine. 

Here’s the best part. Pesto freezes very well.

You can use airtight plastic containers; be sure to fill within a half inch of the top. Or freeze small portions in ziplock freezer bags, being sure to squeeze out all the air you can before zipping the bag shut. Beard suggests omitting the nuts and cheese from the freezer version and processing them with the thawed pesto just before use, but I have frozen the complete version without any problem.

James Beard wrote, “With pesto in the freezer, I can recover the fragrance of summer in my kitchen all winter long.”

It’s not too late to freeze your own taste of summer. Hit the farmers’ market soon and grab up as much basil as you can. Get your ingredients prepped, hit the button on your processor, and seconds later your kitchen will smell like the finest Italian restaurant!

And when spring rolls around, remember that basil is easy to grow in containers. All you need is a sunny spot. 

Have a great week. Eat well. 

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”