Berry Berry Basil

Pam has made Basil Blackberry Crumble a few times before, because she likes berries and loves basil. Even though Barbara Kingsolver and her family include it as a summer dish in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I decided I should make it for St. Patrick's Day, to complement the shepherd's pie she would be making. I got lazy, though, and did not make it until the following day.

Doing this out of season meant that I settled for doing a half-recipe (and honestly a bit less than half), since blackberries in this season are not bounteous or inexpensive. So I used a pie pan (Pam's suggestion) instead of a casserole, but otherwise followed the instructions above. For the balsamic, I used a pomegranate-infused balsamic from our friends at L.O.V.E. in Frederick, Maryland.

I got it all ready before Pam made the next evening's dinner, and then cooked it while we ate.

The result was delicious and would indeed have paired well with the shepherd's pie. It was equally delicious with a cool glass of milk after a dinner of BLTs and Malbec.