Basil

    

Ocimum basilicum.

Well, basil. 

A fine and pungent herb which, (around here, especially once the garden tomatoes are ready), we use almost daily. Fine and pungent. Akin to a spiritual experience. There is just something about a whiff of fresh herbs on a sunny Spring morning. And because of this, we grow lots of them, (most especially ocimum basilicum), from seed, now just about 1 cm tall, to 3" seedlings, to plants now ready for picking. 

We eat lots of pasta and rice based dishes, as part of (what I like to call) a Mediterranean diet. 

Yes, the lovely Mediterranean diet, featuring our fave foods. 

These are a few of our favourite things: 

                                            Olive oil, olives, legumes and tomatoes,

fresh herbs and pasta, rice, eggplant (aubergine),

 onions, garlic, flatbreads, lots of fresh veg and fruit. 

(Oh, and we do love lamb),
These are a few of our fa-vour-ite things...

We are really drawn to meals made while the pasta cooks. Here is our standard, featuring Mr. Basil.

Summer Spaghettini

3 ripe tomatoes, diced (or 18 cherry toms, halved)

3 cloves garlic, mashed with 2 tsp salt

3 oz-olive oil

1 cup chopped(or torn) fresh basil

half a pkg. (450 g) of spaghettini

Put a large pot of water on to boil. Chop toms, basil, then mash garlic with salt.

 Place garlic/salt mash in centre of serving bowl/platter. Surround with a ring of chopped toms. Sprinkle with chopped basil.

Drizzle olive oil over all. 

(This looks quite pretty, smells great, and lets flavours meld.)

Cook spaghettini to 'al dente' (8 mins). Drain thoroughly and pour pasta into serving platter, over the tom/basil mixture. Let sit for a minute, then toss well.

Serve immediately.

At the table, offer grated cheese, if desired.