Caprese Salad with Basil Oil and Balsamic Reduction

On July 4th, we hosted our gourmet group of 10 people.  I placed tiny vases of red, white and blue flowers on the table - all cut from my garden. Each couple received a garden-inspired kitchen towel as a hostess gift.

For the first course, I served this Caprese Salad with Balsamic Reduction and Basil Oil - made with my very own basil grown from seed.

For the second course - a delicious new recipe.....Jamie Oliver's Pasta Carbonara with Pancetta, and Baby Zucchini and Thyme from my garden (2 thumbs up from the husband). This could be a meal in itself! You may not be able to tell from this photo but there are torn bits of zucchini blossoms in the mixture:

Here are the recipes for this simple garden dinner:

Caprese Salad with Balsamic Reduction and Basil Oil
Adapted from Chef Roy Harland
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

2 lbs Heirloom or Stem-On Tomatoes
8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese - in your favorite size
About 12 basil leaves
Basil oil (recipe follows)
Balsamic vinegar reduction (recipe follows)
A nice sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Balsamic Vinegar Reduction (I halved this for 2 and it still made more than enough):

1 cup Balsamic vinegar
1 cup dry red wine - I used a Syrah
1/4 cup Sherry Vinegar (my personal addition)
1 T brown sugar

Basil Oil:

1 large bunch fresh basil
2 cups extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp. salt

Rinse tomatoes, cores and slice. Cut each mozzarella ball into slices.

Arrange tomatoes & cheese decoratively on four salad plates. Tuck in several basil leaves.

Drizzle each salad with about 1-2 tablespoons of the vinegar reduction & basil oil.

Season with good salt and freshly ground pepper.

Balsamic Vinegar Reduction Instructions:

Heat the ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium heat. When mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat and bring to a simmer. Cook until syrupy, but do not allow to caramelize. Mixture should yield about ¼ cup. It should coat the back of the spoon when it is done.

Basil Oil Instructions:

1 large bunch fresh basil
2 cups extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp. salt

In a small sauce pan over medium-high heat, bring four cups lightly salted water to boil. Have another bowl filled with ice water close by.

Remove basil leaves, discarding stems. Place basil leaves into the boiling water and cook for 10 seconds. Remove basil with a slotted spoon and place immediately into the ice bath. Drain basil and squeeze out excess water. Roll basil in paper towels and squeeze to dry. Repeat with more paper towels, if necessary.

Place the basil and olive oil in a blender and blend for one full minute on high speed. Strain the oil through a strainer with cheese cloth. The oil should be very clear and bright green.

Zucchini Carbonara
Adapated from Jamie Oliver
Printable Recipe

As much as I love Jamie's show and cooking, I tried to make this recipe a little easier to follow rather than using a 'fistful' of this and a 'knob' of that :)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 medium green zucchini (or 4-6 baby zucchini as I used)
1 Box uncooked penne pasta
2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
Approximately 1 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Olive oil
5 thick slices of pancetta, or good thick bacon, cut into strips to match size of penne
Small bunch of fresh thyme, leaves stripped
Zucchini flowers - if you grow them or ask from some from a friend who does

Heat a large pan of salted water to boil. Halve and then quarter large zucchini lengthwise. Discard any soft middle parts and slice the zucchini at an angle into pieces about the same size and shape as the penne. Baby zucchinis can simply be sliced finely. Add the penne to the boiling water and cook according to the package dirctions.

To make the carbonara sauce, put the egg yolks into a bowl, add the cream and half the Parmesan, and blend with a fork. Season lightly and put to aside.

Heat a very large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil and fry the pancetta or bacon until dark brown and crisp. Add the zucchini slices and 2 teaspoons of black pepper. You want this to have a kick. Add the thyme leaves and stir, so the zucchini are coated with all the bacon-flavoured oil, and fry until they start to turn golden and soften a slightly.

This next step is very important as you need to work quickly. When the pasta is cooked, drain it, reserving a good ladleful or two of the cooking water. Immediately, add the pasta to pan with the zucchini and pancetta, then remove from the heat and add the ladleful of the reserved cooking water and the egg/cream sauce. Stir together quickly. Do not return to the heat or you'll scramble the eggs.

Serve immediately with the rest of the Parmesan and a little more of the cooking water if needed, to give a silky and shiny sauce. Taste and adjust seasonings. If you have any zucchini flowers, tear them over the top, then serve and eat immediately.