Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme are not just for Simon and Garfunkel.
Fresh
herbs invigorate meals. Here are two Italian inspired meals that get
spruced up with herbs from a small container garden. I'm going to
emphasize the use of herbs, rather than the recipes,
Pizza
This
is a dough-it-yourself (sorry about the pun) recipe. Kneading dough, I
think is very therapeutic. I really smack it around. There are
many
great recipes for pizza dough. This one is Neapolitan Pizza Dough but
without mozzarella cheese. It is unique because it uses olive oil and
basil leaves.
 |
| The Elegant Sweet Basil. |
I cooked the sauce while the pizza dough rose;
tomato sauce with a netted bag of fresh herbs, and a fresh clove of
garlic from the garden, and half an onion (both cut to small pieces).
For the netted bag, I re-assign a netted bag that held, say, onions.
Wash the bag, placed the whole herbs in it, tied the top. Plunk it in
the cooking sauce. The tomato sauce cooks the herbs but stems and large
parts of the herbs stay in the bag. Today I put oregano, sweet marjoram,
sage, and rosemary in the bag; not too much or too many; use your own
judgement.
Wish you could smell these pictures!
 |
| Ready to bake! |
|
|
When the pizza dough is shaped to the
pizza pan, and the sauce is spread on top, I artistically (if I say so
myself) place the sliced mushroom, fresh basil leaves, and sprinkle
shredded 5 Italian cheese on top. Sometimes I use
 |
| (from top L) Rosemary oregano, sweet marjoram,sage at the bottom. |
sliced Provolone cheese from the deli.
When it comes out, how fragrant and lovely. Some of us sprinkle Parmesan on top. Serves six.
Spaghetti
 |
| Couldn't resist adding a bell pepper, too. |
Again, I'm going to emphasize the use of fresh herbs
from your garden, rather than the recipe. You could be using spice
packets from Lawry's or McCormick's and then add fresh herbs, and it
really makes a difference. Today I'm making meat sauce with ground
turkey. The fresh herbs are oregano, sweet marjoram, and sage. This time
I've put them directly into the sauce after making sure the leaves are
torn into tiny pieces, and there are no stems. I take a fresh garlic
clove and crush it in the garlic crusher. In it goes, and my fingers
smell like I'm going to say, "Mama mia!" Noodles ready, sprinkle some
Parmesan or Romano cheese. A nice meal.
Serves six.
6 Herbs To Grow For A Robust, Italian Garden
http://www.organicauthority.com/organic-gardening/herbs-to-grow-for-an-italian-garden.html
Growing a Kitchen Herb Garden
Kitchen Herb Gardening
No comments:
Post a Comment