EasyNature Kitchen
- Tasty recipe
- Nutritious recipe
Rosemary, the queen of aromatic plants, a typical Mediterranean plant, grows both wild and cultivated, especially along coastal areas.
General features of rosemary:
- Rosemary belongs to the Lamiaceae family. It is a plant native to the Mediterranean and grows up to 1,500 meters above sea level.
- The origin of its name is debated: some say it comes from the Latin ROS "dew" and MARIS "sea", meaning "dew of the sea"; or also from the Latin ROSA and MARIS, that is "rose of the sea". It is a shrubby, perennial, bushy plant that can reach a height of 3 meters.
- The stem of rosemary has deep roots, the leaves are small, without a stalk, slightly leathery, and a beautiful dark green color.
- The flowers are clustered in groups that grow at the base of the leaves, blue-violet in color, and are pollinated by insects, especially bees, which love their nectar and produce a wonderful honey from it.
- The fruits are achenes that turn dark when ripe.
- Because rosemary has a very deep root system, it helps hold the soil on slopes.
Rosemary is a plant very rich in essential oil, which is responsible for its aromatic features, made up mainly of pinene, camphene, limonene, flavonoids, phenolic acids, tannins, resins, camphor, and rosmarinic acid.
Harvesting and storage:
- Both the leaves and the flowers are used. They should be harvested in full bloom, during the summer. The branches with rosemary flowers should be dried as soon as harvested, as quickly as possible, hanging upside down in dry, well-ventilated places so they don't lose their qualities.
- Once dried, the leaves and flowers should be removed and stored in sealed glass jars.
- It is best to use rosemary fresh, since drying causes it to lose much of its active properties.
Use in cooking:
- This aromatic plant is an essential herb in the kitchen, especially in Mediterranean cuisine, for meats, fish, and sauces.
- It is an aromatic herb mainly used in Italian and French cuisine. It has a strong, enveloping flavor and is often paired with strong-flavored meats such as lamb. It is greatly appreciated by bartenders and pastry lovers.
- To use it in cooking, it has to be finely chopped, since the needles have a very tough texture.
- Rosemary is a must-have ingredient in many traditional recipes, baked goods, and some desserts.
Washing and chopping rosemary:
- Place the sprigs in a strainer and rinse them under running water. You can gently rub the sprigs with your hands to remove any soil residue. Then place them on a cloth to dry. Separate the sprigs to remove the woodiest parts and the parts without needles.
- Whole sprigs are perfect for decorating, garnishing, and flavoring certain dishes. You can add a sprig at the end of cooking or place them in the pot during cooking together with meat, vegetables, or the ingredients of a soup: of course, the sprigs should be removed from the pot at the end of cooking.
- The sprigs without needles can be hung, dried, and used to prepare meat or vegetable skewers to grill on the barbecue.
When you want to include rosemary in a recipe, it's best to use only the needles.
It can be added to bread or other baked goods:
- Rosemary bread or focaccia
- Homemade rosemary crackers
- Scones with rosemary and herbs
- Fresh pasta or gnocchi flavored with rosemary
Pairings:
- It can be paired with any kind of meat, such as lamb, chicken, turkey, fish, and even seafood.
- You can stuff meats with a whole rosemary sprig in roasts and use it chopped to flavor sauces.
- It can be used in a mix of herbs to flavor meat, regardless of the cooking method, combining one tablespoon of black pepper powder, three tablespoons of fresh chopped rosemary, one tablespoon of dried rosemary, and three chopped garlic cloves.
- Add it to cheese-based recipes: macaroni and cheese, fried or oven-baked cheese sticks, cheese focaccia, mozzarella sticks, cheese sandwiches, cheese fondue.
Pairing with vegetables:
- You can add a fresh rosemary sprig to roasted vegetables: potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and other vegetables with EVO oil, a few drops of lemon, and a couple of rosemary sprigs.
- With potato wedges: wash and rub the skin of the potatoes, cut into wedges, season with oil and pepper. Bake the potatoes at 250°C for 30 to 35 minutes, turning them a couple of times during cooking. Once ready, sprinkle the potatoes with chopped garlic and rosemary.
The properties of rosemary
It is a strong flavoring, but beyond seasoning food it has other properties:
- it acts as an antioxidant on food, helping with preservation,
- it has aperitif virtues,
- digestive,
- diuretic,
- choleretic (increases bile secretion),
- carminative (helps with the release of intestinal gas),
- and finally antispasmodic.
