Fresh Basil

banslug

banslug

Cathlete
I got a bunch of fresh basil at my CSA pick up today and I'm wondering if anybody's ever dried basil for their spice cabinet??? I searched on All Recipes, which is always a great resource, but they don't have anything listed.

Any input?
 
My husband and I had our very first garden last year and ended up with and EXCESS of basil. We froze quite a bit, which was great because we had it for through the winter to make fresh sauce (basil is expensive). We also made some pesto. Everything else we dried out on out countertop, ground and put in a container. My mom said I should have hung it to dry it out instead of laying it out but it worked out OK. Hope this helps.

Maria
 
With extra basil from my garden I make pesto and freeze it, and it's good all winter. But I've heard that it's easy to dry, like Maria described above.
 
I've heard many people say they make pesto and freeze it in ice cube trays and put the ice cube trays in a big baggie. Then you can just pop a cube out at a time and add it to recipes.

Also, I love love love adding basil to salads. I think it loses a lot of flavor when it's dried.
 
Stephanie0523 said:
I've heard many people say they make pesto and freeze it in ice cube trays and put the ice cube trays in a big baggie. Then you can just pop a cube out at a time and add it to recipes.

Also, I love love love adding basil to salads. I think it loses a lot of flavor when it's dried.
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That's exactly what I do. It lasts all winter! And I always freeze some as well to use on it's own.
 
I've heard of drying it in the microwave, but I've never tried it. But I know freezing pesto in ice cube trays is great.

anne
 
Do you add the oil when make the pesto and freeze it? I heard that you should make the pesto but not add the oil. Then freeze it and add the oil after you thaw it out.
 
I haven't heard that! I always made my pesto with oil before I froze it, and it worked out fine.

I'm not sure if this makes a difference in the freezing process, but my pesto has no cheese in it because I'm vegan. It's just basil, garlic, pine nuts, and olive oil.
 
You can also freeze the plain basil in ice cube trays. I chop it up, add it to the tray, add water and freeze.
 
I haven't heard about not using oil, but I have heard to not add parmesan before you freeze it... just blend the basil, garlic, pine nuts and oil and freeze and then add the parm when you thaw it out.
 
Ditto Stephanie - that's what I've heard, too. Make it without the cheese. Then add when you defrost. I freeze pesto all the time, so definitely include the oil before hand.
 
I guess the only advantage to omitting the cheese is you could thaw it faster - like in the microwave - but I usually just let mine thaw at room temp so its not an issue.
 
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