Basil summons memories of Biba Caggiano, the late Sacramento restaurateur, author and TV personality. Once my basil plants demand a leaf harvest, I revisit Biba’s pesto recipe.
On page 159 of her cookbook “Northern Italian Cooking” is Biba’s pesto sauce recipe. My book page is yellowing and stained with extra virgin olive oil drippings from decades of use.
The recipe barely fills a third of the page, but always exceeds my pesto needs throughout the summer and all winter in my freezer.
Just heed Biba’s wisdom, “If you plan to freeze the sauce, add the cheese after the sauce has thawed.”
Pesto (basically basil, garlic, cheese, olive oil and pine nuts), is merely one of many delicious treats from local summer gardens. A cantaloupe right off the vine, an ear of grilled sweet corn, a bite of ripe peach and our incredible tomatoes are reasons enough to live, garden and eat here.
I enjoy fresh produce every summer. Those who don’t grow their own can support local farmers markets. We’re a farm-to-fork city, but often you don’t need a fork. Farm-to-fingers works fine. Pick it. Eat it. Repeat.
My burden is feeling fresh produce must not go to waste. It’s valuable and delicious and must never be allowed to expire like a quart of milk. Vacations and lapses in harvest and maintenance are a challenge, especially for prolific edibles such as zucchini.
My garden’s first zucchini was diced, sauteed and used with other vegetables in a 12-egg breakfast bake. I enjoy cooking and am always searching for new ways to use summer produce.
Zucchini can quickly fill a vegetable bin. Zucchini boats will empty the bin and fill your stomach.
Slice zucchini lengthwise, scrape out the middle to create a cavity, fill with any variety of tasty ingredients (cheeses, veggies, eggs, sausage, etc.), and bake or grill. Before cooking, brush zucchini with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Zoodles, or noodles made from zucchini, are another option. For dessert there is the classic zucchini bread or even better—chocolate zucchini bread. My friend Kathy Morrison makes a world-class version of chocolate zucchini bread. The recipe is on her Sacramento Digs Gardening blog site (sacdigsgardening.californialocal.com).
The season’s first garden tomato is a celebratory moment, screaming success and hinting at a bountiful harvest in coming days. Mine appeared just shy of Memorial Day, an Early Girl hybrid tomato about the size of a golf ball.
I surgically carved four slices and arranged them atop a hamburger patty. If you are a Tomato Head, you are nodding approval.
That first tomato of the year is a holiday for gardeners. It also marks tomato sandwich season.
In the South, the traditional tomato sandwich is simply cheap white bread, mayonnaise and slices of ripe tomato seasoned with salt and pepper. The bread is soon soaked through and soggy from juicy tomatoes. Best enjoyed leaning over the sink.
On the West Coast and inland regions like Sacramento, the tomato sandwich can be many variations. I have used toasted garlic nan, sourdough and whole grain bread. Toasted bread limits the soggy mess, but ripe tomatoes are going to drip. Instead of mayo on both sides, some of Biba’s pesto adds a flavor bomb.
Stack slabs of tomato as high as you can handle for a tomato sandwich. A triple layer of tomatoes just adds more nutritious goodness to the diet.
Garden tomatoes are not just for sandwiches. Gazpacho, bruschetta, salads, soups, salsas, sauces, tasty BLTs are among dishes that come from summer produce.
Send me your favorites!
Attend Harvest Day 2024, Saturday, Aug. 3, at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center (behind Fair Oaks Park). The annual event offers vendors, speakers, demonstration gardens, educational tables, food trucks and other attractions for Sacramento gardeners. Starts at 8 a.m. and wraps at 2 p.m.
Dan Vierria is a University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener for Sacramento County. He can be reached at masterg29@gmail.com. For answers to gardening questions, contact UCCE Master Gardeners at (916) 876-5338, email mgsacramento@ucanr.edu or visit sacmg.ucanr.edu. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
