Tips: Preserving Fresh Basil

How about preserving some of your fresh basil to use next winter? I have two easy and delicious ways to do this. They are:

1. FREEZING
Start by removing all the leaves from the stems. Wash and dry the leaves (use your salad spinner for drying). Lay out large sheets of waced paper and spread the clean, dry basil leaves on the wax paper in a SINGLE layer. Slowly roll the wax paper from from the end. Put the rolled basil package into a resealable plastic bag and then store in the freezer. When you need basil to cook with, simply unrool enough toexpose a few leaves, roll back up, and put back in the freezer. The basil's color will turn an olive green in the cold, but the flavor is wonderfuly.

2. PRESERVING IN OLIVE OIL

1 cup packed basil leaves
1/4 cup olive oil

In your blender or food processor, puree fresh basil leaves with olive oil. Place pureed mixture in ice cube trays. When frozen, place cubes into tightly sealed plastic bags.

Add basil cube just at the end of cooking time as oil will hold flavors well. As the frozen cube melts, the aroma and flavor it adds to your dishes is absolutely wonderful.