Pesto Crudo with Serrata Basil

On my way through the market, I stopped at one of my usual and favorites stands, County Line Harvest. I have written about them before. This Sunday, as I was walking away with my arugula and my salad greens, I realized I forgot basil. They had just been starting to harvest their basil the week or two before. County Line's basil is some of the best of the market. One of the things I like about their basil, in addition to its great flavor and freshness, is that they sell it loose rather than in bunches, so none of the leaves get crushed and you can get exactly as much as you want. So I asked Dave if they had any, he told me that they were out of the regular basil (genovese), but he said they had a new variety - serrata basil. Being a nice guy, he gave me a bunch and asked me to give it a try and report back. (This is one of the benefits of being a market regular.) The leaves are more ruffled than genovese basil leaves. As the name suggests, the edges are serrated and the flavor is a little sharper, a little more assertive.

With the cool evening upon us, my wife and I wanted some pasta, but had no meat sauce in the freezer. So she suggested we throw something together. Then I remembered the basil from Dave. So we got the water boiling and prepared the garlic and basil. Once the pasta went into the water, we grated some parmigiano, sauted the garlic in olive oil, and chopped the basil coursely. At the last minute, I threw a handfull of pinenuts into the sauteeing garlic, just before draining the pasta. I added the pasta back to the hot pan with a little of the retained cooking water and some added olive oil. I then threw in the basil, garlic, and pinenuts to the pasta pot. I added a little grated cheese and tossed. We then plated the pasta, topped it with the rest of the cheese and threw a few whole basil leaves to finish it off. While this was an exceedingly simple dish, along with a green salad with avocado, it made for a perfect weeknight dinner.