Basil Pasta

I have an urge to try making basil pasta. I have lots of basil and I ought to use it. Here is a recipe I will try: (it is from Allrecipes.com here)

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS

1. Using a food processor, process basil leaves until chopped very fine. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour and pulse two or three times, or until combined. Add egg, 1 teaspoon oil, and the water until dough forms a ball shape. If dough seems dry, add a bit more water. Wrap dough in a piece of plastic wrap which has been coated in a few drops of olive oil. Refrigerate dough for 2 hours.
2. Remove dough from refrigerator, and cut into 6 equal size portions. Run pasta though pasta machine, or roll with rolling pin to desired thickness. Use the additional flour to coat pasta while rolling.
3. Allow pasta to dry for one hour prior to cooking.
4. Cook in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. This should take only a 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the pasta.

Blueberry Pie

Part of a week spent in Michigan earlier this sumer was U-Pick Blueberries! Hundreds of huge beautiful blueberries - fresh and cheap! Here is a recipe I found for making pies (from About.com here)

The recipe is different from what I expected - no baking the pie - but I tried it because it seemed much easier and quicker than other recipes. It worked well, and the "raw" berries were very good. I didn't use enough thickener - so the pie was runny. It was still very tasty. Also, I have to admit to using premade pie crust dough, the kind that comes in a box. It was very good and very easy.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups blueberries
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• dash of salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 pie crust (9 inch) -- baked

PREPARATION:

Bring 1 cup of blueberries and water to a boil. Boil gently for 4 minutes; add butter. Stir in sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Cook slowly, stirring, until thick and clear. Remove from heat; add lemon juice.

Pour mixture over the remaining 2 cups of blueberries; stir gently to combine. Pour into the baked pie shell. Serve chilled or at room temperature with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.