However, I picked up this handy hint on Gardening Australia some time ago - pick over your bunch of basil and put it in a bowl. Drizzle liberally with a good olive oil and mix thoroughly. Spoon leaves into zip-lock bags and freeze. The oil stops the leaves oxidising and going black, and you can use as many or as little as you would like in your cooking.
Of course you can always freeze basil in the form of pesto as well. Purists would never freeze pesto because of the oil content (it can affect the flavour) and there is some debate between those who do freeze pesto, as to whether you should add the parmesan cheese before or after freezing (i.e. just before you use it). But for me, freezing the whole thing is the way to go.
There are various recipes but the one I have used is heavy-handed with the garlic and light on the oil for a nice, chunky paste :-)
Basil Pesto
4 cups basil leaves
1/2 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
salt and pepper to taste
1. Whiz the garlic and pine nuts briefly in a food processor until roughly chopped.
2. Add the basil leaves and pulse until mixed, then with the motor running, slowly add the olive oil through the feed shute until incorporated.
3. Add the cheese and salt and pepper to taste and pulse until combined.
4. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week, covered with a thin layer of olive oil. Otherwise, spoon into ice cube trays and freeze. When frozen, pop into a container and label. Store for up to 6 months in the freezer, using individual cubes as required.
For other pesto combinations and recipes, see my post about Pesto last year.
7 comments:
I'm with you Julie I freeze my pesto and it seems fine. My favourite recipe is the Jamie Oliver one - much lighter on the garlic. Deb
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-and-pizza/basic-pesto
I just used some frozen pesto I made in the summer! I made a pasta with local, roasted beets and pesto. It sounds like a strange combination but it was sooo tasty. I live in Canada and when I remembered that I had pesto in the freezer it was like discovering a bright green treasure in the middle of grey winter! I made the pesto with basil from the backyard. I used sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts. They are cheaper and what I had on hand. And I used a local, hard cheese instead of parmesan. A little unorthodox I know, but the results were very yummy!
I will definitely be making and freezing more this summer.
I freeze mine in half-pint jars, cheese and all, thawing out a jar as needed. I replaced part of the oil with lemon juice - it brightens up the flavor nicely.
http://firesignfarm.blogspot.com/2008/09/basil-pesto.html
I've been using it as a sandwich spread lately - such a nice little taste of summer in these cold days.
I'm going to make some tomorrow morning to take to a BBQ as my basil plants are almost falling over with growth after the lovely rain we had last week. Thanks for sharing...
If you just wash down the basil leaves, give them a shake off and freeze them in a plastic bag they freeze hard because of their water content and then you only have to take a handful out when you want it, no oil required and no chopping either as they crunch into tiny pieces once frozen!
Unfortunately I don't have enough just yet for freezing, but good hints - and YUM, I can almost smell it from your photo !
That pesto looks great! I love to be creative with pesto and find new ways to use it - toss it with pasta or use it on pizza instead of tomato sauce... It always has such a fresh taste to it.
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