Vegetarian Recipes for Basil

Abundant Basil!

LTSH (Long Term Suffering Husband) rushed into my office the other day, eager with news.

“How long since you’ve checked your tomatoes?”

I stood up surprised – I didn’t even know LTSH knew how to identify a tomato bush… maybe those round red shaped things gave it away!

“Not recently – why?” I asked.

“Some stinky trees have taken over.”

I went outside, perplexed. I hadn’t spent much time in that corner of my vegie patch recently, instead focusing on the seedlings I’d recently planted in another corner, as well as a particularly bitter patch of lettuce I was mulling over.

I was soon to discover the “stinky trees” were in fact Basil… trees!

Yikes! These Basil plants had failed to read the back of the organic seed packet which stated they grew to a height of 60cm. Mine were well beyond that. I’d planted them as Companion Plants to my Roma Tomato Bushes – and been rewarded with low insect and grub attacks on the tomatoes. But now the Basil plants had established themselves and gone wild.

So I did what I should have been doing much earlier and cut it back. They say to ‘pinch out tips to encourage growth’ – so I pinched and pinched and pinched. And all of a sudden I saw the leaves of my Tomato Bushes peeping through again. Phew! Thanks, LTSH.

Now I had a huge amount of Basil – so what does one do with a mountain of Basil? Use it in cooking, of course. So here are some recipes you might like, beginning with the good old…

Basic Basil Pesto

Ingredients:
500g Fresh Basil Leaves
100g Toasted Pine Nuts (personally, I don’t bother toasting them)
4 cloves crush garlic
160ml Olive Oil
70g Grated Mozarella Cheese

Method:
Mix in a Food Processor until completely blended.
Spread on toast, add to pasta as a quick “oh dear, the cupboard’s bare except for a packet of pasta I bought last winter” sauce, or use to flavour a bowl of salad.

Sun Dried Tomato and Basil Pesto
(this is delicious with Pasta)

Ingredients:
300g Sun-Dried Tomatoes
100g Grated Mozarella Cheese
100g Pine Nuts
50g Fresh Basil Leaves
160ml Olive Oil

Method:
Mix in a Food Processor till completely blended.
Stir through your favourite pasta.

These two recipes make a goodly amount – but remember, I did have a mountain of Basil to get through. If you did the right thing and pinched out your Basil’s new growth, and have small amounts, then simply cut the ingredients in half.

Chopped Basil is also delicious added to any ready-made Pasta Sauce.

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