My bedroom window opens to a view of a small garden. Since we moved into our house in the dead of winter, I must admit I didn’t think much of our neighbor’s garden. But this past week, I found myself standing at the window each morning, watching our dear neighbor, Lilly, in her oversized straw hat and daisy print gardening gloves tending to the garden.
If you walk down the stone pathway lined with violets, hyacinths, and lilies, you will be greeted into the garden with the warm scent of honey coming from a fig tree. It’s sprawling branches and leaves act as an umbrella. A sort of safe haven in the center of the garden. Past the fig tree is a raised bed dedicated to tomatoes: cherry and grape tomatoes, yellow pear-shaped ones, fat beefsteak and elongated Romas. The raised bed closest to the fence that divides our lots is filled, and I mean filled, with basil. That’s it. Just basil. Our fence is covered with grapevines and tiny grape clusters, which remind me of baubles I used to find in my grandmother’s jewelry box.
I caught Lilly’s eye from my bedroom window, and we waved to each other. She pointed to the massive bed of basil and cupped her hands to her mouth, “I can’t imagine a summer without basil, can you?” I shook my head and smiled in complete agreement.
The next morning, I opened my front door and found a lovely bouquet, not of freshly picked flowers, but of basil, and a note that read “… so you’re prepared for the summer. –Lilly”
{GIVEAWAY | To enter the All-Clad d5 Stainless Steel All-In-One Pan Giveaway, leave a comment below letting me know your favorite summertime dishes between now and midnight, June 2nd. The winner will be chosen randomly and will be contacted via email on June 3rd. Limit 1 comment per person, pretty please!}
Handkerchief Pasta with Basil Pesto
Serves 2
Note: You can make the basil pesto ahead of time and just stash it in the fridge to have on hand for a quick and easy meal. Also, the pasta can be made ahead. Once you have rolled out and cut the pasta, place the fresh pasta in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze. Once frozen, stack the frozen pasta in a gallon-sized freezer bag and stash away until you are ready to boil!
200g all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Generous pinch red pepper flakes
1 large bunch of basil, leaves only
¾ cup olive oil
½ lemon, juiced
1 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
Extra virgin olive oil, to finish
Sea salt & black pepper, to season
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add flour and a pinch of sea salt. Blend together with fingertips and create a well in the center. Add eggs to the well. Mix on a low speed until the dough comes together. Switch to dough hook attachment and knead until the sides of the bowl are clean and the dough wraps around the hook, about 3-5 minutes. The dough will be soft and smooth.
On a lightly floured surface, form the dough into a ball. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile make the pesto.
In a mortar and pestle or a food processor, add garlic and a pinch of sea salt. Add red pepper flakes and basil leaves. Pound or pulse the ingredients together, forming a paste. Add olive oil, lemon juice, and parmesan cheese. Continue mixing together, tasting as you go. Once the pesto is perfectly seasoned, set aside.
Cut the dough into 4 pieces; slightly flatten making it easier to pass through the pasta machine. Pass pasta through the widest setting of the pasta machine. Fold in half and pass through 9 more times, dust with a little flour as needed.
Decrease the pasta machine to ½ the thickness and pass through twice.
Decrease the pasta machine setting again to the 2nd to last thinnest setting and pass through the pasta machine once. Repeat with the rest of the pasta. Lay sheets on a tea towel.
Bring a pot of water to boil and season the water with salt. Cut the sheets into square handkerchiefs.
(Now, this next step happens quickly so ready a strainer to drain the pasta by the sink, a small mug to reserve a little pasta water for the sauce, and warm a few pasta bowls!)
Toss the fresh pasta into the water and boil for just a few minutes, or until the pasta floats to the top. Scoop out about ½ cup of the pasta water. Set aside. Drain pasta.
In a large pan over medium high heat, add the basil pesto. Once the pesto heats through, add the drained pasta along with a small amount of the reserved pasta water. Toss, toss, toss! If you notice the pasta needs more sauce, add a few more drops of pasta water.
Toss into warmed pasta bowls, scatter with more parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil and basil leaves!
117 replies on “BASIL BOUQUETS & ALL-CLAD GIVEAWAY”
I love making lemon spaghetti with basil, and chimmichurri sauce for grilled meats and making my Deconstructed Salad Roll Salad with tons of herbs from the garden, ahhh summer and fresh produce and herbs, Bring it on…..
Rebecca,
Oh lemon spaghetti with basil! That dish is my go to. When I don’t have anything else in mind for dinner, I always have the ingredients for that dish. The other two sounds lovely as well.
x
Amber
We love to use the basil and fresh tomatoes on Brushetta.
Adele,
Such a classic flavor combinations and one of my favorites too!
x
Amber
I just love this web site.These are my kind of recipes.
Barbara,
Thanks dear!
x
Amber
Summer means grilled salmon, tomato salad, and fresh sweet corn!
Grace-Ann,
Sounds amazing!
x
Amber
Light and delicious pasta salads. Oh and strawberry shortcake!
Lucy,
Pasta salad was one of the first dishes I ever made for myself! And strawberry shortcake for dessert, perfection!
x
Amber
so many, but I am looking forward to a season of cooking & eating outdoors: peach pie with homemade peach lavender ice cream, grilled local bluefish with dill, gin & lime, rotating pestos of whatever greens and herbs my garden is ready offer, biscuits and slow smoked brisket, mezcal & watermelon-serrano swizzles, grassy discs of chèvre…!
Kara,
your summer menu sounds divine!
x
Amber
Fresh tomatoes from our garden make any meal sweeter. My mother has an old Southern Living recipe of tomato pie that always takes me back to summer. My Nanny’s lemon meringue pie for my summer birthday is a close second.
Elizabeth,
You had me at pie…! I was introduced to tomato pie a few years ago in Alabama, and I fell in love with the savory pie! And no summer dinner is complete without lemon meringue.
x
Amber
I absolutely love fresh, homegrown tomatoes, mozzarella, peach, thyme, and balsamic salads. So incredibly easy and delicious!
Sara,
You just described the perfect summer lunch! A plate full of all those ingredients, pretty please!
x
Amber
My favorite dish would have to be a bursted tomatoe salad. Cherry tomatoes tossed with evoo, fresh herbs and baked til they just burst. Then toss with cubes of mozzarella cheese!
Eva,
I need to try this, Eva. Sounds heavenly!
x
Amber
love this site and the accompanying Instagram! our favorite summer recipes usually involve the grill since it allows us to sit out in the sunshine. roasted corn mixed with chipotle pepper, crema mexica, and a litte crumbled Queso and fresh parsley is a great side. reminds me of a deconstructed Mexican street corn.
Thanks so much, dear! Love, love, love everything you described…
x
Amber
My favorite thing about summer is eating sweet, warm tomatoes picked right off the vine in my grandpa’s backyard garden. And tomato salads with a good balsamic vinegar 🙂 OH and corn! I love corn.
Sofia,
Two of my summer favorites too!
x
Amber
Can I say something as simple as antipasti and a good wine on the patio? Loads of fresh basil included — right on!
Heather,
Of course! The simplest summer dishes are always the best!
x
Amber
This sounds amazing…! Wish I had a garden to grow basil in. My favourite dish of summer is cooling and made of simple ingredients: Greek salad with greens, lucky bites (basil and other herbs), and tomatoes from my grandmama’s garden, olives, sweet onion, feta, lemon juice, salt, and olive oil. Mixed with hands. Eaten using chop sticks.
Paisley,
I wish I could have a bowl of this! It sounds so fresh and lovely!
x
Amber
Peach Cobbler made the old fashioned way with local peaches, my husband’s grilled skirt steak, and heirloom tomatoes! Yum, yum, love summer food!
Debbie,
Perfection! This is the first summer where I have a yard, so I’m excited about grilling skirt steak. I always had to use a grill pan, which resulted in a smoke-filled loft!
x
Amber
Venison burgers with sweet potato fries
Kaylin,
Yum!
x
Amber
My dad grew the best tomatoes ever. When I would come home late at night, he would wait up for me and make a tomato sandwich on white bread–sometimes Italian, sometimes Wonder, always white–with olive oil, salt and pepper. The bread would get gushy with tomato juice and oil–it was messy and divine.
Julie,
Tomato sandwich are the best part of summer, and they must be eaten late at night over a kitchen sink…
x
Amber
My husband go crazy over pesto, I’ll definitely try your recipe!
For the summer dishes I’ll keep it simple; corn, bbq and salads!
Isabelle,
I hope you enjoy it!
x
Amber
I love pesto chicken
Theresa,
Yes, pesto anything is always perfect!
x
Amber
Nothing screams summer like refreshingly cool dishes such as Caprese or watermelon salads and also zesty, citrusy ceviche!
Sara,
Anything you can serve straight from the fridge in the summer is perfect!
x
Amber
Raw zucchini and summer squash salad with fresh mint and oregano! So fresh and delicious.
Casey,
It’s aways such a beautiful salad too. I love adding fresh red chili!
x
Amber
Bruschetta caprese!
Robin,
Yum!
x
Amber
I love cooked zuchhini, tomato and onions.
Renee,
Summer in a skillet!
x
Amber
Summer squash, tomatoes, tomatillos all grilled for tacos
Jessica,
Grilled veggie tacos… I need to add these to my summer menu!
x
Amber
Anything on the grill… salmon, meat, veggies, pineapple… Kabobs are a favorite in our house – chicken or steak, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, strawberries or pineapple. Add a little olive oil and salt, and it’s good to go. They’re easy for each person in our family to assemble just how they like ’em for a meal everyone enjoys.
Diane,
My dad used to make us kabobs during the summer. Such a sweet memory!
x
Amber
What a great looking dish – the pasta is so interesting.
My favorite summer dish is a chunky chicken salad I make with dill, red onion, red bell pepper, mayo, sour cream, and salt/pepper. It’s so simply yet very flavorful.
Annette,
Thanks so much, dear! I first had handkerchief pasta at a restaurant in Dallas when I was younger. I remember feeling so grownup and elegant.
x
Amber
Some of my summer favorites are:
Strawberry shortcake with fresh strawberries
STREET TACOS!¡!¡
Gin and tonics 😉
Emily,
I love all your summer favorites!
x
Amber
We love anything with summer tomatoes, especially panzanella salad.
Beth,
I love panzanella salad as well! It’s always that dish I make for myself when I have leftover bread from tomato sandwiches!
x
Amber
Favorite summer foods….. tomato sandwiches!!!! And anything made with fresh peaches!
Lydia,
Seriously, aren’t tomatoes sandwiches one of the best things in the world?
x
Amber
I’m guessing this giveaway is not for international readers, still, one of my fave Summer recipes is shrimp al ajillo, I make it all the time. I love basil and have a basil in my kitchen that looked like it was going to kick it this Winter but has managed to pull through, thankfully. I always imagine you living in quarters like what Anne Rice has described in her “The Witching Hour” book, it’s uncanny!! After reading here your description of your neighbours garden, it’s even more implanted in my brain, that idea, lol!!
http://bloglairdutemps.blogspot.pt
Miranda,
I’ve never read Anne Rice before. I need to though sinceI read that she writes about New Orleans, which is one of my favorite cities!
x
Amber
Oddly enough, I really enjoy making pasta during the summer months with a light olive oil sauce and plenty of fresh veggies from the farmer’s market. I use angel hair past, so it feels a lot lighter than the traditional pasta/tomato based sauces I used during the winter. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to boil water when it’s so hot out, but I do it! Thank you for the opportunity to win. 🙂
Kelly,
In my kitchen, pasta is always welcome even in 100 degree weather! Some of my favorite pasta dishes are the ones made with summer ripe tomatoes, olive oil and basil.
x
Amber
Summer dinner!! Fresh sweet corn with butter, sliced tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with fresh basil, and thin slices of sugar baked ham.
Sounds like a lovely summer meal!
x
Amber
I love grilled salmon salads, pasta salads and grilled vegetables like peaches and pineapple.
Elle,
Perfection!
x
Amber
Rigatoni, arugula, and white bean pasta! It is tossed in olive oil, lemon juice, s&p, and parm. So good.
Kenny,
Divine! x Amber
Ratatouille and Caprese Salad and yellow wax beans sauted in butter with garlic.
I love love love ratatouille! One of my favorite summer dishes as well! x Amber
pesto is one of my very favorite summer foods! and caprese salad. and pretty much any form of fruit – I have so many memories of sitting around outside eating watermelon and corn on the cob and burgers with my family.
Kaity,
Those are the best memories! x Amber
In the summer, I cannot get enough of salads that incorporate fresh vegetables and herbs from the garden. Many are cobbled together, but my favorite recently is a riff on a raita salad. It has cucumbers, bell peppers, and tomatoes as a base with a sauce made of Greek yogurt, basil, cilantro, jalapeño, red onion, yellow mustard seeds, and mint. It’s cool, refreshing, and has a kick! As a bonus, it pairs well with a citrusy IPA.
Erin,
Oh my goodness! That sounds amazing. I need that dish in my life this summer, pretty please! x Amber
Curry! Love adding tons of fresh veggies.
Denise,
Perfect! x Amber
I love to make spaghetti carbonara in the summer
Nicki,
Carbonara is such a great dish to make during the summer because most people already have the ingredients on hand and it never takes more than 20 minutes start to finish! x Amber
I love making a pasta dish with shrimp, lemon and pepper flakes. it’s one of the few hot pasta dishes I can stand in the miserable summer heat here in the desert.
Tina,
That pasta dish sounds lovely! x Amber
Summer is a farmer’s market vegetable plate with sliced tomatoes, shell beans, lightly steamed green beans, and maybe some squash casserole :-). Also time for peach crisp and all the fruit sorbets.
Maria,
Yes yes yes! Y’all are making me so hungry! x Amber
Caprese salad – fresh mozzarella, freshly picked basil, farmers’ market tomatoes, salt and pepper – mmm
Such a perfectly elegant dish! My favorite summer dishes are always the ones where you buy the best ingredients and give them the smallest amount of effort. x Amber
My favorite summer time dish is…ice cream. I know it’s not supposed to be a meal but don’t tell that to my parents who would, from time to time, drop ice cream and toppings down on the dinner table for family “dinner.” Definitely not healthy but I can remember those family dinner nights more than anything! It’s totally a tradition that I want to keep when I have my own kids.
Elizabeth,
Ice cream counts! Thanks for sharing that sweet memory! x Amber
I love grilled eggplant slices topped with feta cheese, mint/basil and jalapenos for a little heat. Sooo refreshing!
Jessie,
Yum! x Amber
Well, I have basil on the mind so caprese salad would be one, but then, I can’t wait til cantaloupe is in. It’s so good with lime and sliced Fresno chile peppers!
Sarah,
Cantaloupe was always on our summer table! We just served it in slices right next to the tomatoes.I think I may need to try to dress it up a bit this season though! x Amber
My favorite summertime dishes are pasta salad and grilled hamburgers!
Digicats {at} Sbcglobal {dot} Net
Carol Sue,
Classic! x Amber
Taco salad!
Colleen,
I haven’t had a taco salad in years! I need one.Today. x Amber
Anything I can grill is my favorite summer meal! Corn on the cob, fresh veggies, chicken, steak, etc!
Susan,
I’m in agreement! Grilled anything is perfect for summer. x Amber
I love a good grilled chicken cobb salad with fresh homemade dressing….YUM! Thanks for hosting such a LOVELY giveaway!
Heather,
It’s my pleasure, dear! Love a good cob salad! x Amber
Anything with peaches! I love a fresh peach milkshake made with home-made vanilla ice cream. The perfect end to a hot day.
Nanette,
Peach Milkshakes need to go on my summer list! x Amber
I love cut up seedless watermelon, iced tea, pasta salads and good barbecue foods like kabobs and hamburgers.
Evie,
Delicious! x Amber
I love grilled asparagus, artichokes, and Brussels sprouts with bacon.
Kristen,
Grilled Brussels sound incredible! x Amber
We love fresh caught walleye or pan fish, a light salad and fresh fruit. The best part is if we can sit outside and enjoy our meal and the outdoors at the same time.
Cheryl,
Agreed! One of the greatest joys of summer is eating outside just as the sun goes down. x Amber
Any kind of pasta with fresh veggies tossed in!
Dianne,
Love! x Amber
This southern girl loves favorites from my childhood…BLT with home grown tomatoes, sweet corn on the cob, iced tea, and strawberry shortcake. Your posts are wonderful! Thank you!!
Kim,
Thanks so much for the sweet words, and I love your childhood favorites! x Amber
My favorite Summertime dish has got to be pasta with charred tomatoes and raw squash ribbons, with marinated mozarella!
Dale,
That sounds perfect! x Amber
We have a super simple flatbread pizza with homemade tomato sauce, basil from our apartment herb garden, and buffalo mozzarella. And it’s just the best, always!
Such a classic flavor combination! x Amber
I love grilled tomatoes with halloum <3
Jenna,
I tend to stick close to Parmesan and mozzarella with tomatoes, but I need to widen my nets and try it with halloumi as well! x Amber
I think my favorite summer dishes include; anything grilled on charcoal (especially fruit) and tossed in a light vinaigrette, watermelon mint feta salads, Ice cold gin and tonics with extra lime, and cold asian peanut noodle salads.
Jeremy,
Goodness! Your list of summer favorites is amazing! x Amber
Lilly and her summer basil really hit my heart string. My Italian mum loved sweet Basil so much that she named our dog after the herb when I was young. Fresh Basil & wet Buffalo Mozzarella served over tomatoes drizzled with olive oil is all I want to eat in the summer!