Blight destroyed most of our first crop. But what we truly love, and so do my cook friends who are begging for plants, is basil. Currently our kitchen garden grows regular lettuce leaf basil sprouted from cuttings, Thai basil and something the nursery called native basil. It is basil found in the local wild, and has no classification. If you are interested in growing your own, be mindful that basil and rosemary cannot coexist. They stunt each other’s growth. It is the same with basil, sage and fennel. In fact, keep fennel away from everything because fennel has no friends.
Our vigorous basil crop has resulted in a diet of greens with basil as the main salad. It is no longer just a bit of leaf to give some taste to lettuce and romaine. It’s the main attraction. Who knew it was actually so healthy and it keeps your breath fresh too. Not surprising, we keep a small Italian cookbook library to find various ways to cook our crops. There is basil in salad, of course, freshly plucked and dipped in vinaigrette. Then there is pesto, which is a tedious thing to make in whatever cookbook version you find. But you can make a load of it then keep it in the freezer for weeks. Our current favorite is basil pasta, using fresh basil. It is a kind of basil salad hybrid, sinfully simple to make and tastes gorgeous. After a long day, it’s the only dish I have energy left to put together and cook before collapsing in front of the television.
You will need basil leaves, spring onions, half an onion, a tomato, one clove of garlic, garlic leaves if you have them, black pepper and salt to taste, olive oil, and cilantro leaves. Cook your pasta and while that is boiling on the stove, heat a small pan with olive oil. Put in the garlic clove firs, then the onion, finely chopped, followed by tomatoes, as much or as little as you want. The tomatoes are your fillers. If cooking for one, use less, if cooking for more, add more. Chop all the other ingredients and mix in a bowl. When the tomatoes look soft in the pan, pour the contents of the pan, oil and all into your mixing bowl. As soon as the pasta is soft enough to eat, drain, and then toss it into your bowl. Add salt and pepper according to taste and you are done. Other things like cheese, are optional.