What to do with all that basil?
The other day, coming home from the Patch, I decided to add the tips of all my twenty-some basil plants to my harvest bag. Compared to the load of onions (bitty ones all, disappointingly) I got, I didn’t think it was all that much. But I guess it turned out to be about 14 cups, because once washed and stripped it filled my food processor to the brim.
I remembered a trick I’d heard of before as a way to use up the leftover herbs from those ridiculously expensive plastic supermarket packages – mincing them up, mixing them with water, and freezing them in an ice cube tray. Since I didn’t have quite enough basil for a batch of pesto but still didn’t want it to go to waste, I decided to try it. I sloshed some water in the processor and made those leaves into a fragrant paste.
I think I could have gotten two more cubes’ worth if I hadn’t overfilled the tray so much.
Now I can have the taste of fresh basil even in the winter – and I won’t have to pay $3 per sprig, either. -grin-
June 29th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
This a very cool idea! (no pun intended) :0)