basil
BASIL
(basilico) Ocimum basilicum
Basil is an annual herb that glories in hot weather and withers after a light frost.
HOW TO GROW: Plant basil in a sunny site in fertile, well-drained soil with a high amount of organic matter. Start basil seeds inside a month before your weather warms up in spring or use transplants from the nursery. Keep the plants fairly moist during the growing season. If your soil is not very fertile, feed every six weeks. Harvest the leaves by hand or with scissors. Keep the flower heads continually cut back, or the plant will go to seed and give you few leaves.
VARIETIES
Fine Green (Piccolo Verde Fino): dwarf plants to 1 foot (0.3 m), small leaves, compact shape great for edging beds, flavor great for pesto
Genovese: tall, slow to bolt, large dark green leaves, intense spicy basil fragrance; ‘Genovese Compact’ is about half as tall and good for small gardens or containers
Lettuce Leaf (O. basilicum var. crispum): 85 days, very productive, large crinkled leaves
Mammoth (Mostruoso): very large leaves, sweet and spicy, similar to lettuce-leafed basil but not as crinkly and has larger leaves
HOW TO PREPARE: The aromatic leaves of basil are used fresh in soups, salads (including panzanella, a rustic salad made with slightly stale bread and vegetables), bruschetta, and pesto. It is sometimes tucked in sandwiches instead of lettuce. In Italy basil flavors minestrone, sandwiches, marinara, zucchini frittata, and fresh and marinated mozzarella.
BEANS
(fagioli rampicanti: pole beans; fagioli nani: bush beans; fagiolini: snap beans) Phaseolus vulgaris
FAVA BEANS
(fave) Vicia faba
Beans are beloved in Italy. Italians use the standard cylindrical green beans, but they also favor broad, flat green and yellow beans called romano beans and the coiled ones called anellino beans. These beans seem to have a richer flavor than most green-bean varieties and are worth seeking out. Shelled beans are also widely grown in Italy, particularly the white kidney-shaped cannellini and the lovely red-speckled borlotto. Use them fresh or dried.
Ancient Romans relied on the broad fava beans as one of their staples. In Italy the special sweetness of these beans is prized, particularly when they are harvested very young. Favas are still very flavorful when fully mature, but their skins must be peeled off before preparation—and this is a real labor of love.
Fava beans
HOW TO GROW: Beans are grown as annuals and do well in most climates. Plant snap and shelling beans after all danger of frost is past; the purple and wax varieties can tolerate colder soil than the green snap bean. All beans need full sun and a good, loose garden loam with plenty of added humus. Sow seeds of bush beans 1 inch (2.5 cm) deep in rows 18 inches (46 cm) apart. Thin seedlings to 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Pole beans need a fairly strong trellis to climb on. Plant the seeds 1 inch (2.5 cm) deep, 6 inches (15 cm) apart. If the plants look pale midseason, fertilize them with fish emulsion. They are best watered deeply and infrequently; water at the base of the plants to prevent mildew.
Fava beans need a long, cool growing period of about 90 days and can even take repeated frost. In areas where winters don’t dip below the low teens, plant favas in the fall. In very cold winter areas, plant favas at the same time as peas if you have long springs. Plant the seeds 2 inches (5 cm) deep, about 2–3 inches (5–8 cm) apart, in rows about 1½ feet (0.46 m) apart. Support the tall varieties with stakes and strings surrounding the outside of the beds.
In some areas bean beetles can be a serious problem. Other pests include beanloopers, whiteflies, aphids, and cucumber beetles. To help prevent diseases like anthracnose and leaf spots, plant resistant varieties, use drip irrigation rather than overhead watering, and do not work with the plants when they are wet. Black aphids are about the only pest of fava beans, and can be readily controlled by sprays of water.
Harvest snap beans when the seeds inside are still very small and the pods are tender. Harvest fresh shelling beans when the pods fill out noticeably but before they get dry. If the pods get too mature, allow them to dry for winter use. Young fava bean foliage can be harvested and cooked as you would other greens. The pods of the fava bean can be cooked when they’re 3–4 inches (8–10 cm) long. Harvest young, tender fava beans that do not need their skins removed when they first start to fill out the pods. Or let the fava beans mature and use them fresh or dried.
Yellow Anellino, Borlotto and Romano beans
VARIETIES
Anellino Beans (cornetti)
Green Anellino (Gancetto Verde): 85 days, pole, green Italian heirloom snap bean, stringless, crescent-shaped pod with rich bean flavor
Yellow Anellino (Gancetto Burro): 80 days, pole, yellow Italian heirloom snap bean, small, crescent-shaped pod, rich bean flavor
Fava Beans
Sweet Lorane: 240 days if sown in fall; small-seeded fava, good flavor, cold-hardy
Windsor: 75–80 days, bush, grows on an erect 2- to 4-foot (0.6–1.2 m) stalk, long green pods (up to 10 inches/25 cm), large, broad, light green beans
Purple Snap Beans
Trionfo Violetto: 60 days, pole, stringless, purple Italian heirloom, vigorous and attractive vines with deep lavender flowers
Romano Beans
Burro d’Ingegnoli (A cornetto largo giallo Burro d’Ingegnoli): 78 days, pole, stringless, very broad, deep yellow with large round seeds; very tender and almost buttery in flavor
Garafal Oro: 67 days, pole, large (up to 1 foot/0.3 m) beans with good flavor and delicate texture, very fast growing, vigorous vines, disease-resistant
Roma II: 50 days, bush, stringless, green, wide, thick pods with rich flavor, productive, resistant to bean mosaic virus
Wax Romano: 58 days, bush, light yellow, flavorful pods with meaty texture; vigorous plants
Cannellini
CAUTION Some males of Mediterranean descent are allergic to favas and should be wary when trying them for the first time.
Shelling Beans
Cannellini:
