CRISPY BASIL RECIPES

Steps:

• In the bowl of the food processor (or you can use a blender), add the rice cakes and pulse until you get 1 1/4 cups rice cake crumbs. Return 1/4 cup crumbs to the food processor, reserving the remaining 1 cup for coating the cakes.
• Add shrimp, shallot, 4 tablespoons each of the cilantro and basil, and 2 tablespoons jalapeño to the crumbs. Add 2 teaspoons fish sauce, and a pinch each salt and pepper. Pulse until the mixture forms a coarse, chunky paste. (Be careful not to overprocess; if using a blender, scrape down the sides frequently.) Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate while you make the sauce (at least 15 minutes and up to 24 hours).
• In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, remaining cilantro, basil, jalapeño and fish sauce. Zest the lime into the bowl, then cut the naked lime into wedges and squeeze in some juice. Salt to taste. Reserve extra lime wedges for serving.
• Spread remaining 1 cup rice cake crumbs out onto a plate or sheet pan. With wet hands to keep shrimp paste from sticking, form 2 tablespoons of shrimp mixture into a 1/2-inch-thick patty and put it on top of the crumbs. Repeat with remaining shrimp mixture, re-wetting your hands as necessary. Turn the patties over in the crumbs to coat both sides.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Fry patties in batches until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Serve shrimp cakes topped with more basil leaves, with chile-lime sauce for dunking and lime wedges on the side for squeezing.

Steps:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
• Halve the peppers lengthways, trim out the seeds and membrane. Lay them in a fairly large roasting tin facing upwards. Halve the cherry tomatoes and place them inside the peppers. Finely slice the garlic and tuck them in with the tomatoes. Drizzle the peppers with olive oil, season, to taste, with salt and freshly pepper. Bake in the oven while you get on with the basil oil.
• Set aside a few sprigs of basil and blend the rest in a food processor with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and a little salt until you have a bright green basil oil.
• When 30 minutes or so have passed and the peppers and tomatoes are beginning to soften, pour over the basil dressing. Return to the oven for a further 20 minutes or until the vegetables are slightly charred around the edges. Lift the peppers and tomatoes out of the tray with a slotted spoon and set aside.
• Cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to the packet instructions. Drain.
• Tip the cooked, drained pasta into the roasting tin, and stir well to scrape up any caramelised peppers stuck to the pan.
• Serve the pasta in bowls, tearing in the remaining basil. Spoon the roasted peppers and tomatoes on top.