Dropping in: Zucchini & Basil Spaghetti

Summer has blown through Australia, leaving us all wondering if time just dissipates like sea spray in the wind. Or like an ice cube in the sun, or like chocolate ice cream in my bowl.

Thankfully, summer produce is still trickling out of Nonno & Nonna's garden.

When I dropped in to say hello this Saturday, it was already midday (weekend sleep-ins are precious to the newly working woman!) so of course we had another drop-in lunch.

Nonna cheerfully started frying zucchini and basil for a quick and easy spaghetti dish.

I never cease to be amazed at how the most simple, fresh ingredients can make the most tasty, healthy meals.

Pesto: Summer on a Plate

It's a fact: the smell of fresh basil can instantly make you happier.  I tested this today and it worked...

Just look at all of that glorious herb.  I'm sorry, but what's not to love about the stuff that makes sauce taste Italian and gives meaning to all summer dishes.

And Wikipedia says that extracts of basil are very toxic to mosquitoes. BIG WIN.

This morning Nonna got up with the early birds to harvest 4 cups of fresh basil leaves for some fresh pesto.

I've been eating pesto since I was in nappies but this is the very first time I've ever seen it made.  Actually I have a feeling our whole family still thinks pesto is born in the freezer.  Nonna has been producing yearly supplies of basil-green sauce for years without anyone seeing the transformation from leaf to fragrant mush until this moment.  

Fried Zucchini Flowers

Every summer the vegetable garden starts filling up with nice, big, green zucchinis.  Some are picked while still quite small and dark, while others are left until they become big and stripy, full of seeds and perfect for stuffing (but that's another blog post).

Secretly, I think the best part of the zucchini plant are the flowers.

Over several days, Nonna goes out to the garden and picks two or three flowers (not many come out at once).  When she has a big batch she fries them up in a light batter for hungry grandchildren.

We call them 'Flowers'.