The Perfect Thing to Make During a Heat Wave
Whip this up and serve it on anything
This year, I planted basil two ways: from plants I bought, and direct from seed. The first few weeks, I was nibbling on the plants, but by now there’s not much difference between the two. I have a lot of basil, and have been using it in almost everything. My favorite not-too-common use was in this fruit salad.
Peaches, apricots, cherries, all from nearby Fishkill Farms, with a little olive oil, salt, the tiniest amount of ground chile, and basil: This is such good stuff, and you don’t have to call it dessert, either.
Of course pesto, and one of a variety of near-pestos, are the best — especially with a heat wave predicted over much of the country in the coming days.
The traditional way to make basil pesto and its cousins is with a mortar and pestle. This may well be the best way to do it, but even in Genoa, the home of pesto, you’ll find people making it with a food processor, even though they’d never admit it publicly. I’ll admit it publicly: I use a food processor (the mini ones are handy if you’re making small batches). Depending on the herbs/greens you use…
