Two Feet in the Dirt

When it comes to preserving food for later use, you can go complex (think canning) or easy. Although last week we did both, I’m just as excited about this simple-as-can-be technique for freezing basil. One of the most disappointing things about cooking in the winter is the drop in flavor as you move from fresh to dried spices. Follow this method to help preserve the basil’s flavor as close to fresh as you can get!

Frozen Basil Cubes

1. Ingredients:
2. – Basil
3. – Olive Oil

Method:

1. 1. Pick basil leaves off of stems. Rinse and spin leaves in a salad spinner.
2. 2. Figure out how many cups of basil leaves you have. You’ll need about 1 Tbsp olive oil for every cup of basil leaves.
3. 3. Add the basil and appropriate amount of olive oil to a food processor or blender. Blend until mostly smooth.
4. 4. Pack the basil puree into ice cube trays. (You can really pack it into whatever size and type of container you like, but it’s nice to have it frozen in small quantities so you don’t have to thaw more than you want to use at one time.) Once the puree is fully frozen, pop it out of the ice cube trays and store in freezer zip bags until ready to use!