I’d love to make this a weekly series on “what’s in the garden,” but let’s call it an occasional series for now (wink). Today we’re talking about the overflowing fresh sage from the garden.
I often choose what I’m cooking based on what is overflowing in my garden or in the grocery store. To be clear, my garden is a series of planter boxes on the porch of our Chicago condo. You gotta work with what you have, right?! I try to put everything to use rather than letting it go to waste, but sometimes I’m more successful than others (looking at you, dill!).
Now that we’re in the height of summer, I’m keeping an eye on what is overflowing in the garden and needs to be used. This week, it’s the sage.
Recipes Featuring Fresh Sage
If your garden looks anything like mine and you have an abundance of fresh sage, here are a few ideas to put it to good use.
- Pan Seared Gnocchi with Brown Butter & Sage from Fine Dining: This could easily be made with pasta or ravioli, and would be great to throw in some italian sausage, grilled corn…. We’re on to something here!
- Focaccia: I love, love, love a good focaccia bread, and you can top them with anything. This recipe from Gimme Some Oven is the one I use most frequently. Top it with an apple and sage combination, or a garlic, sage and onion combination. It’ll be delicious!
- Sous vide pork chops: I don’t have a recipe for this (might have to put one together!) but I love sous vide pork chops with fresh sage, apples, garlic, onions — it’s such a powerful flavor combination. If you need a good guide on temperatures for sous vide pork, I use this one from Serious Eats.
- And if you’re looking for an option that you can store, make compound butter! For me, this is a better way to preserve the flavor than drying the herb — it’ll be more useful and it’s insanely delicious. Plus, you can keep it in the freezer and use it all year round!
Is it worth drying fresh sage?
Last year I dried sage from the garden and kept it in the pantry. And one year later, I’ve hardly used it. Dried herbs just aren’t the same as fresh, and I find myself buying fresh herbs if I don’t have them growing. Drying is certainly an option, but for me, it ends up being something that just sits in the pantry.
Happy cooking! How are you using up or storing your fresh sage this year?