Time is running out! Ready or not, frost is soon going to zap all the tender plants in local gardens, including mine. Take heed and harvest now, or the last basil, tomatoes and nasturtiums will soon lie limp and lifeless in the yard. I already took a few precautions and oven-dried a generous batch of sweet, vine-ripened tomatoes several weeks ago. Oven-dried tomatoes stand in beautifully for commercial oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, and are, of course, far more economical. If you are into preserving and have an abundance of tomatoes, consider checking out my recipe. Either home-prepared oven-dried tomatoes, or purchased sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil work well in the flavor-packed Tomato, Basil, Olive and Pasta Salad provided here.
Today, I snipped most of the last sprigs of green and purple basil in the yard and paired them with some of my stash of oven-dried tomatoes, plus a squiggly-looking pasta brought back from Italy, a few kalamata olives, and a little fresh mozzarella to create a quick main dish. Since the weather is on the cool side today, I tossed everything together as soon as the pasta was well drained. The heat of it began to melt the bits of cheese and caused the herbs to exude their fragrance. My impromptu Tomato, Basil, Olive and Pasta Salad made a spectacular if quick and humble lunch!
The thin, eggless twists of trophie pasta I used have been turning up more often in the U.S. the past few years, usually dressed with basil pesto. My Italian cookbook author friend Domenica Marchetti says in The Glorious Pastas of Italy (a beautiful, well-written and useful book) that it is normally hand-rolled and is a specialty of Liguria. (I bought my bag from a shop in Sorrento that was crammed with every conceivable shape, size, and color. Choosing only a few kinds from the seductive eye-catching assortment was painful!)
I’ve promised myself that before the first freese I’ll run out and snip the last of the basil and either tuck the sprigs into bottles of wine vinegar or white rice vinegar, or cover the chopped leaves with water in ice cube trays and freeze them. (The nasturtiums will all go into bottles of vinegar; see the recipe here.) Once the herb cubes are sealed in baggies, they’ll be ready to pop into soups, stews and even sorbet infusion for an instant hit of fresh basil flavor all winter long.
Tomato, Basil, Olive and Pasta Salad
The impromptu dressing for this salad features an unusual secret ingredient—the brine drained from the kalamata olives called for in the dish. Normally the brine from bottled olives is salty enough that little or no additional salt is needed in the dressing. More important, the brine has—no surprise!—a pleasing olive flavor that marries perfectly with the oil.
Not only tasty but thrifty and convenient, olive brine makes a fabulous substitute for vinegar when there’s none on hand. Which is how I came to try it in a dressing in the first place! Now, I tend to use up all the brine before finishing the olives and always wish they came packed with more.
- 3 cups freshly cooked (al dente) and drained trophie or other thin, short pasta lengths
- 2 or 3 medium-sized oven-dried tomatoes, chopped (or substitute ⅓ cup chopped bottled sun-dried tomatoes)
- ¼ cup cubed fresh mozzarella
- 3 to 4 tablespoons coarsely chopped pitted black kalamata olives
- ½ cup chopped green or purple basil leaves (or a combination), divided, plus several whole leaves for garnish if desired
- 3 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 to 4 tablespoons kalamata olive brine
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper, or more to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt, optional, for garnish
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives or parsley (or a combination) for garnish
- In a medium-sized serving bowl, toss together the still warm drained pasta, the tomatoes, mozzarella, olives and half the basil until just mixed.
- In a small deep bowl, whisk together the oil, olive brine, half the basil, and the pepper until blended. Pour over the pasta mixture, and toss until the pasta is coated. Sprinkle over the chives (or parsley), then toss lightly to partially mix. If desired, garnish with coarse salt, a few grinds of pepper, and several whole basil leaves
Makes 2 main dish servings.
Yes, they taste fairly similar. The leaves of the purple kinds are sometimes a little tougher than the regular green basil, so I generally use only the small, tenderest leaves uncooked in salads. The larger purple leaves I use to make vinegar.
Does the purple kind taste the same as the green basil you get in the store?