ALTHOUGH LATELY IT has been looking as tall and vibrant as Geena Davis, my basil plant will soon slump. It is a weather wimp. The moment that autumn turns the least bit chilly, that plant will hit the ground faster than a Ravens quarterback.
As soon as the frost gets even reasonably close to sitting on the pumpkin, the basil leaves - once green and fragrant - wilt, then turn ugly and useless.
The key is to pick these leaves when they are still green and luxuriant. Then you can make them into a pesto sauce that will carry you through the Maryland winter.
It used to be that I used the beginning of baseball's World Series as the signal that it was time to start the pesto-making season. But, like a lot of Oriole fans, I seem to have lost track of the exact dates that the October classic is played.
Baseball in late October has become an activity that in the past 10 years or so happens in other cities, not Baltimore. Now I use the last Oriole homestand of the season, which is this week, as a landmark to remind me to start making pesto sauce.
I freeze most of the pesto sauce. The solid packets of green sauce help get me through that grim, gray period known as winter. When the words "wind-chill index" are on everyone's lips, there is nothing to lift your spirits like a taste of the basil leaves of summer.
As is true in making many kinds of sauce, once you get set up for business, you might as well make pesto sauce in volume. The pesto recipe that we use at our house comes from Marcella Hazan, the well-known author of six seminal books on Italian cooking. Marcella, now 80, is a woman of strong opinions. In her books and in person she spells out strict procedures that must be followed when preparing authentic Italian dishes.
That is why I feel nervous when writing about this pesto recipe. Even though my wife and I worship Marcella and her cooking, when we make her pesto sauce, we sneak in a few changes. I am sure Marcella would not approve, and somehow I feel Marcella's disapproval every time I fiddle with her pesto recipe. But, hey, it works.
One change is that we substitute walnuts for the pine nuts she calls for. We made the change the first time because we did not have pine nuts in our pantry. When that pesto sauce turned out tasting fine, we stuck to walnuts. They are cheaper and easier to find than pricey pine nuts.
