Summer is a season of abundance, but can it be too much of a good thing? You may not ask yourself that question now, but you will in a few weeks when an anonymous neighbor rings your doorbell and runs off, leaving a grocery bag containing some fifty pounds of zucchini on your front porch. One item I tend to overplant in my modest home garden is basil. The seedlings look so tiny at the garden center in May; who would guess that a mere two dozen would produce enough leaves to fill a bushel basket or two? So here are a few ideas if you are similarly afflicted with basil overload.
First and foremost, pesto sauce. There are many variations on the theme, but here is my favorite:
2 cups tightly packed basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2 oz. pine nuts
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup grated Parmagiano-Reggiano cheese
Place the basil, garlic, pine nuts and salt in the bowl of a food processor, run until finely chopped; you may have to scrape down the bowl with a spatula once or twice. With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the oil in a continuous stream. Continue to process for a minute or so after all the oil is added. Place the mixture in a bowl and fold in the cheese. Add to the pasta of your choice.
Now, freshly made pesto is fabulous, but there is a limit to how often one can put it on the summer dinner menu, particularly if some of your regular dinner companions are ages 12, 10 and 10 (i.e., my children). Fortunately, pesto freezes quite well. Try to find a lazy late July or early August afternoon when you can make a few batches. You can freeze them as I do, in little Rubbermaid containers, or in ice cube trays. Although it's associated with summer, defrosted pesto makes a hearty winter dinner, particularly if you garnish the pasta with sliced Kalamata olives and leftover bits of lamb or beef.
Note that some cooking authorities recommend freezing pesto without the cheese, adding it only after defrosting; I have done it both ways, and could not discern any difference in the flavor or texture. YMMV.
Another well-known use of fresh basil is the caprese salad. At its simplest, this consists of a tray lined with layers of sliced tomatoes, sliced mozzarella cheese and whole basil leaves, drizzled with olive oil. Some add a grind of black pepper or 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar reduced in a saucepan until syrupy, then drizzled over the salad. The key is to use the best quality ingredients: real garden tomatoes, not the forlorn, tasteless ones in the supermarket, and real, fresh mozzarella, not the "cheese food" kind next to the cottage cheese and sour cream. Here in the Garden State, quality examples of both are easy to come by this time of year.
Fresh basil can also be used in marinades. Here's one for enough grilled shrimp to feed a small army, which is what we usually have to feed on summer weekends:
2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup of butter, melted
juice of 1 1/2 lemons
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 cup packed sliced basil leaves
2 cloves of garlic, minced
pinch of salt & pepper
3 lbs. large or jumbo shrimp
Whisk the oil and butter in a large shallow bowl, add the remaining marinade ingredients and stir to blend. Add the shrimp and toss, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate 30-60 minutes. Start your grill (gas or charcoal), and when it's very hot, thread the shrimp onto skewers (discard the marinade) and grill for appx. 4-5 minutes per side.
And here is another marinade for pork chops. Try to get them at least 1" thick, preferably on the bone.
4 pork chops
juice of 1 lime
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup packed chopped basil leaves
salt & pepper to taste
Toss the pork with the lime juice until all sides are well-coated. Add the garlic and basil and toss. Cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate appx. 1 hour. Remove the chops from the bowl, season with salt & pepper to taste and discard the marinade. Grill over direct high heat until both sides are browned, then move to a cool part of the grill, cover the grill, and cook over indirect heat until chops are done. I like to remove them when there is just the slightest hint of pink at the center of the chop.
Hope this inspires some of you to make the most of your basil crop. So, what's for dinner at your house?