For the Love of Basil
I can still remember when my mother first introduced me to the culinary delight that is basil. Her garden had a generous amount of it, and it was easy to smell it even though it was sharing space with chives, mint, sage and other herbs. She pulled off a few leaves, and gave me one. After a quick sniff to make sure it was what I thought I had smelled, bit a small amount off.
“Like it?” she asked. I think the smile on my face was answer enough. Since then I have used basil constantly, trying new things with it to see if I can improve on the classics. Well, there a LOT of classics out there, and it’s hard to improve on them.
Basil is a herb with a very distinctive taste and smell. To describe it does not do it justice, but imagine a cross between pepper and mint, with enough of a pine undertone to make you think of fresh air and evergreens. It is a dark green leaf that grows on small plants, and unlike a lot of other herbs it is tasty enough and soft enough to be eaten on its own. In fact, you can include it in salad as a leaf as well as a herb.
There a different varieties of basil that are used around the world. There is a purple variety used in Thai cooking, as well as a variety with a slightly lemony flavor. Appropriately enough it is called lemon basil. Another type is cinnamon basil, which I have not tried, but I have to assume that it too has been named for its taste.
The most common basil is a variety from Italy, and it is typically this variety that you buy in the store. It is often referred to as “sweet basil”, and the name is justified. It is not so sweet that it can be used as a dessert topping, but it really matches well with anything that has a slightly sweet taste.
You can buy it fresh in bags or cellophane packages, or dried in a spice bottle — both have their uses. In late spring you can even buy it as small plants. My preference is to grow my own, or failing that picking my mother’s basil out of her garden. One thing that I recently learned about basil is that house flies cannot stand it. I read on two separate web sites that keeping a pot of basil in a room should keep it nearly clear of flies. The only down side to this is that basil likes to be in the sun, so you would need to have it in a window facing the sun, or else have more than one pot that you could rotate in and out of the room.
What makes basil so useful in the kitchen is that despite its very distinctive taste it is very good at combining with many other foods. There are certain combinations of foods that mix so well together that they transcend the simple concept of pairing and actually become one new super-flavor. Okay, I made that term up, but it really does mean something – when you taste it, you just know that it is more than two separate tastes.
One such combination is tomato and basil. Raw tomatoes or canned combine very well with basil. If you want to upgrade your tomato soup just a little bit, sprinkle some dried basil in it just before serving, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Have you ever tried a Margherita pizza? This is a classic with three very simple ingredients: tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and chopped basil leaves. This was the first pizza made for royalty, and is still considered to be the purest form of pizza. And it is amazing!
Mushroom soup, too, works very well with basil. I am not a big fan of raw or cooked mushrooms, but I do make casseroles with mushroom soup, and some dried basil always makes it better.
Of all the meats, pork combines the best with basil. So many things work well with pork, but I always find myself going back to the basil. Want an easy way to cook pork chops? Get a baking dish, and put your chops on the bottom. Sprinkle some roughly chopped garlic on them, then cover with mushroom soup. Add some dried basil on top and mix it in slightly. Cover the dish and bake at around 350 degrees for an hour, or until the chops reach 160 degrees. The mushroom soup makes a great replacement for gravy, and complements the pork nicely. I like to serve this with mashed potatoes.
Basil plays nicely with other herbs and spices, too. “Traditional” Italian seasoning, as you would find in a typical spaghetti sauce, will contain any or all of the following: marjoram, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano and basil. Another classic herb combination is the French herbes de provence. This mix usually contains rosemary, marjoram, basil, savory, thyme and lavender — yes, the flower! This luscious little combo works well with rice, potatoes, fish, and various meats. Both of these herb mixes are readily available in the spice area of your grocery store.
Because it matches so well with tomato, it should be no surprise that basil is indispensible in Italian cooking. I have already mentioned pizza and spaghetti, but practically anything with a tomato sauce or raw tomatoes usually also contains basil. Even a simple tomato salad with a vinegar and olive oil dressing can reach heavenly heights when topped with fresh chopped basil leaves.
This does not mean that basil is only used with tomatoes — far from it! There is a tasty little snack called “mozzarella in a carriage”, which is simply a sandwich made with a slice of mozzarella cheese and a leaf of fresh basil, soaked in an egg and milk mixture, then deep fried to a golden finish. The cool, sweet taste of the basil nicely balances the warm, salty taste of the fried bread and cheese – it’s like having a grilled cheese sandwich, french toast and a cool salad all at once. And if you don’t think that sounds good, well, just try it; I promise you’ll be amazed.
For all I have learned about basil over the years, and all the dishes I have tried and loved, my favorite is still the one I had that summer day at my mother’s house: pesto. Speak its name with reverence, for it is truly a dish from heaven.
There are two components to this dish: the sauce and the pasta. Since the sauce will not be runny, nor very sticky, you need a pasta that has nooks and crannies for the sauce to nestle into. Rotini, the spiral-shaped pasta, is my favorite for this. Tortellini works well too, especially if it is filled with a nice cheese. Lastly, if you are REALLY adventurous, you can make ravioli and use the pesto as a filling. All unstuffed pasta should be boiled for about 7 minutes in well-salted water (it should taste like the sea, not salty enough to make you gag!) and drained immediately. This means you should make the sauce while the water is coming to a boil, and then cook the pasta at the very end.
To make the pesto, you will need about 4 cups of basil leaves, pressed down; 4 to 10 peeled cloves of garlic (I usually use about 6); one cup of pine nuts (replace with chopped walnuts if you like as pine nuts can be pricey); 1 and a half cups of parmesan cheese (cut back on this if you want to cut back on the fat); 1 to 1 and a half cups of extra virgin olive oil; salt and pepper to taste.
In food processor, chop up the basil and garlic. Once these are chopped add the nuts until all the ingredients are mixed nicely together. Add the cheese until it, too, is mixed in. Lastly, drizzle in the olive oil. At the very end add in your salt and pepper. That’s it! Right from the start the smell will drive you wild, and you’ll know you are onto something good.
If you want to warm up the sauce, you can heat it in a pot with a bit of chicken stock. The sauce can be kept in the fridge for a few days, or even frozen — try the ice cube tray so you can use just the amount you want the next time!
If you have never tried cooking with basil, I am hoping that I have given you some ideas to work with. There are so many things it works well with that it is hard to fail to create something wonderful. Once again, if you have ideas that I did not mention, I’d love to hear them!
Yours in Good Taste
Erik Christensen