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Basil and tomato pasta sauce

© Pat Churchill

I am a great fan of the herb basil. These days it's readily available at the supermarket, growing in small pots. These can be placed as is in an attractive plant pot and put on the kitchen windowsill. I pinch out leaves from the top and the plants continue growing until used up.

Basil can be grown in the garden, but you need to wait until there is no chance of a frost before putting these tender plants in the open. There is bush basil and the more familiar sweet basil. I recommend http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/e... as a good site to check out the various types.

Basil is associated with Italian and Thai cuisine, but it originated in India and was taken to the Mediterranean via the spice routes.

A few leaves make a good addition to a mesclun salad. Or try adding some shredded basil to your favourite vinaigrette, leave it to steep for at least 30 minutes, then pour it over your salad.

Basil goes really well with tomatoes, particularly vine-ripened tomatoes at the height of summer.

Sometimes I remove the cores from several tomatoes and push a rolled up basil leaf into the hole, drizzle over a little olive oil and roast the tomatoes for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with a few flakes of Maldon sea salt.

One of my favourite feta cheeses is one flavoured with basil. A few cubes of it make a great addition to a Greek salad.

One year I pushed quite a few sprigs of basil into a bottle of light olive oil and left them there for a couple of weeks, then drained off the oil, rebottled it, and used it for making salad dressings. Quite delicious. It is also possible to infuse basil in vinegar.

Chopped basil can be worked into butter and used to make herb bread in much the same way as garlic bread is made.

Occasionally when I am making bread in the bread machine, I will add a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste, a handful of shredded basil leaves and a couple of tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese. This is particularly good with soup.

The other night I bought some particularly good sausages, that had a coarse texture and very little fat While they cooked in the oven I took half a dozen flat brown portabello mushrooms, placed a couple of basil leaves on each, topped them with sliced tomatoes and a generous spoonful of grated cheddar. They went into the oven for 15 minutes until the cheese was golden and bubbling. They were delicious with some fresh green beans and the sausages.