My basil plants were out of control this summer...and I loved it! Basil was in everything.
I hate the winter, all the goodness of my herbs are gone, and it's either spend some exorbitant amount on fresh herbs from the store, or resort to the dried variety. Which aren't the same. At all.
So I did a little research. Come to find out, you can preserve your basil in the freezer! I read that the best way to do it was to make a pesto type mix, stick it in ice cube trays, and pop it into a freezer bag to use over the winter months. Um, home made tomato soup? Take out a cube of basil, toss that mama in there, bam! Tomato basil soup! Cook up some pasta, toss a cube in, dinner is served!
So, here's how it went down on Morning Glory.
First thing I did was harvest my basil...and there was a ton!! I filled up the sink with water for a cool crisp water bath...and to rinse all the outside goodies off.
I don't have a food processor, so I used my handy dandy blender. This part was slightly challenging. I'm sure with a big food processor, it would be super easy. With a blender, it was a little more challenging.
I added the basil with a ton of olive oil and cranked it on!
The basil was having a hard time getting down to the bottom close to blade, so I decided I'd use my spatula and poke them down while the blender blended. Don't do that. Somewhere lurking in my pesto are large chunks of wood. I could hear it being chopped up in the blender. Lesson learned. And beware if you come to my house and have pesto.
I don't have ice cube trays, so I used my mini muffin tins and it worked just fine!
Popped these in the freezer for a day or two and they were good to go!
Since muffin tins don't quite pop the way ice cube trays do, I held them over a pot of boiling water I was using to make some pasta and they came right out.
I can't wait to use my fresh basil through out the winter months!!!
4 comments:
I REALLY want to do this! My basil went crazy this year, and I still have a bunch out there, and I want to have it this winter!
I thought of you when I was doing this...your basil is OOC! I forgot to add that you're gonna need more olive oil than you think you're gonna need...I used a whole small bottle plus more! Yay for fresh basil in the winter!
I had to think for a minute on the "OOC," but I think I'm going to have to coin that as my own from now on.
...which reminds me that Carter loves the acronym HOBC-ing. I don't feel like I use it that often (b/c I'm rarely just hanging out or being cool), but he even mentioned it last night when we were going to bed. I don't really remember the context now though. :)
I'm not sure if OOC is really something...or if I just thought it was...and I LOVE HOBC-ing! I don't use it often enough...because I don't like having to explain myself...which is what that usually requires. :)
Post a Comment