If you're like me, you have these herbaceous bushes all over your yard. They are every home chef's best friend. You could make pesto with them but that's an intense flavor and not easily liked. I decided to take a page from the magazine All Recipes and create a simple but tasty sauce to be served with gnocchi. I used DiLallo's gnocchis which are the closest in taste to homemade.They're a five minute cook.
First pick about a cup and a half of basil leaves. Vary them with selecting the very big and small leaves. Add the stems as well because they are the most flavorful part of the plant. You could tear the leaves in half if you want. I didn't because I knew my food chopper would do a good job of chopping them.
Use your food chopper or food processor to chop them into an almost pesto like mash. This will only take a few minutes. Give the chopper a few pulses.
Add them and diced tomatoes to a medium sized saucepan (about two quarts) I used Stop & Shop's diced tomatoes. You can also use coarsely chopped fresh ones instead if you want too. Skip the sauce and the paste here. You want a fresh garden taste.
A few glugs of olive oil were then added. Again Filippo Berrio is the best.
Along with one clove of chopped garlic.
I always add honey to my sauces to get rid of that metallic tang. This time I used Bee Konscious California Raw sage honey. I usually use dark wildflower but this went with the fresh garden flavor.
It's all cooked for only twenty minutes !!!!. The sauce was then spooned over the cooked gnocchi.
This was an easy cook and I loved the fresh flavor of the basil and tomato. It was simple yet delicious, and I plan on making this a lot for myself and for friends.
It is basil season. Use your leaves for this simple but flavorful sauce. It's an easy summer cook using the best of summer's basil harvest.
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