Fresh Homemade Basil Pasta Tossed with Sundried Tomatoes, Broccoli & Cauliflower in Mustard Cream Sauce (The Basil Chronicles in Summer)

The flavors of sweet basil embedded in the pasta was amazing against the backdrop of the creamy mustard and vinegar sauce paired with the crunchiness of fresh cauliflower and broccoli. Added to this was the tartness of the sundried tomatoes--all tossed together in a large bowl for WOW--probably the best new flavor experiment I've tried in many months!

Enter the season of fresh basil. An herb that happily makes it into nearly all my cooking from here on out--until our first freeze--and sometimes after. Basil is a cook's best Hot Weather friend. It LOVES the heat! It also loves pasta--and luckily, so do we.

I had a hankering for some fresh pasta. I am now proficient enough with my pasta making skills that I simply toss the "oo" flour into a bowl and work it together by "touch" until I think it is ready to be kneaded through several runs through the pasta machine. (The ONLY flour you should ever make fresh pasta from is "oo". Use semolina when you want to store your pasta--or dry it out--but for fresh, only "oo"--this can be found at amazon.com or at your local Italian grocer or at really swanky cooking supply stores). Fresh herb pasta is so simple, it ought to be a sin.

Cuttings from basil is a daily activity now. Just place some in a jar and set it next to your kitchen sink and I guarantee you will be using this magical herb daily--slap it between two slices of whole wheat bread and a swipe of vegan mayo--YUM! This here is your average, every-gardener-should-have basil: Genovese. I also freeze clusters of basil just as you see here. I simply place this entire bouquet of leaves into a freezer bag, make sure the air is out of the bag, and come December when I'm longing for the aroma of fresh basil for a lasagna dish, I crumble the green leaves into my pan and the next thing you know, the summer-basil-feeling is back--almost as if it were June again. Of course there is your vegan pesto you can freeze as well, but I prefer the crunched up frozen leaves. 

Red Rubin basil.

Boxwood basil.

Magical Michael basil.

Mammoth basil.

So yesterday, I longed for a pool to jump into as the heat index crept up to 110! I could slow cook a meal in that temperature for crying out loud! (Though lounging by a pool in a bathing suit did sound nice, the thought of facing a mirror in a two-piece did NOT.) I can't think of anything harder on the psyche than a woman my age trying on bathing suits--no matter how wonderful the More Magazine spread of "Look Good in A Swim Suit At Any Age" might be--(those women are all air brushed)--however, the airbrush is not in the fitting room at Kohl's with Vegan Thyme--and you know exactly what I'm talking about ladies! So, about the basil.

Yesterday, I picked basil, I cooked with basil, my entire kitchen smelled of fresh cut basil. I can't think of better sign that summer is officially here until those first cuttings of basil hit my door--well that and the intolerable heat and humidity. My harvest was so large, I felt, aside from the everyday pesto, I had to make something more enchanting: fresh basil pasta. So simple. So sublime!

I set aside more space today for basil yet again. I had some extra seed left over. You would think one would tire of basil. Never. After some "google" research, I read basil has long been used throughout many cultures for various medicinal purposes: for anxiety--(amen to that, sister), for help with kidney function, for inflamation, for increased immunity. It is one of those herbs that I seriously miss come November. It will for sure be making an appearance here in the next few months! 

Don't let this list of ingredients intimidate you. This is well-worth the effort and quite simple once you get your pasta made. This dish would make a wonderful take-along because it has a better shelf life than say, a pasta with a soy cream base. The fresh pasta really absorbs the flavor of the mustard sauce--it is pure heaven in my opinion and will make for an even better left over the next day!

Fresh Homemade Basil Pasta Tossed with Sundried Tomatoes, Broccoli and Cauliflower in Mustard Cream Sauce

Adapted from The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison

for two servings

1 cup "oo" flour

1/4 cup warm water (maybe a bit more, just use your hands to determine)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/8 teaspoon tumeric (for that egg yolk color)

1 cup fresh herbs of choice minced (or chopped as small as you can get it)

In a medium bowl, first add the flour and fresh herbs and whisk together. Then add all other ingredients and work together with your hands. The dough will come together and feel somewhat dry--just as long as the dough is sticking together and NOT sticking to your hands--it is ready for the pasta machine. (Add flour and/or water by teaspoon until this happens.) Set the machine on level one, then run it through there ten times to knead the dough. Then, begin turning the pasta knob to incremental settings--to two, then three and so on--running it through each consecutive setting only once until you have a fairly thin dough--as seen above. Cut dough to desired width. For this dish, I went for about a half inch. Set on parchment-lined cookie sheet while you prepare the rest of the dish.

1/3 cup diced sundried tomoatoes (in oil if you have them)

2 cups chopped fresh broccoli

2 cups chopped fresh cauliflower

1/2 medium red onion minced

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons dijon mustard (or mix it with a tablespoon of stone ground mustard, too)

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar (*optional, but added a nice note of sweet)

4 garlic cloves minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano or two stalks fresh with leaves pulled off and added to mixture

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 stick Earth Balance vegan butter

1/2 cup cup dried bread crumbs

S & P to taste

sliced black olives for topping (*optional)

red pepper flakes (*optional)

vegan parm for topping

Here's how this meal comes together: while your pasta is drying, prepare a large pot of boiling, salted water to cook the pasta in at the end. Cover while you work in the heat of the kitchen for the rest of the meal. Then, prep the "mustard" cream sauce by taking a food processor and adding the minced red onion, half your vegan butter chopped up, the mustard, sundried tomatoes, vinegars, garlic, olive oil, oregano and parsley. Pulse it a few times, then give it a good whirl until you have a somewhat creamy consistency. Don't worry about it being completely smooth--it will melt later. Set this aside. Next, take the remaining vegan butter and melt it in a medium saute pan, add bread crumbs and cook only until the bread crumbs begin to brown. Turn off heat. (Be careful and keep an eye on this as I found the crumbs brown really quickly.) Next, take the mustard butter and add to large saute pan over medium heat. Add the cooked veggies and toss around a bit. Meanwhile, begin adding your homemade pasta to the water and allow to boil for about two minutes. Get a cup of this pasta water and add it to the veggies and mustard butter before you drain the pasta! NOW, drain the pasta from the water and place the fresh pasta in pan with the veggies and sauce and toss well. Add a few shakes of red pepper flakes to this--depending upon how much heat you like. To serve, place a swirl of browned bread crumbs on a plate, then top with the pasta/veggie mixture. Add a few shakes of vegan parm and viola! You will love this!