I put it in a blender with just enough olive oil to turn it into a paste. When I need some basil, like in marinara, I just put in a spoonful of the paste.

It freezes well, too.

Or use a dehydrator if you have one. You can use dried basil in lots of dishes, and yours will be fresher than what’s in the grocery store.

crumble handfuls when I need it for cooking.

I'll hang one branch in the garage to dry, and make an oil/basil past with the rest

A lot of people say "everything in moderation," but my rejoinder is "if little's good, more is better."
I absolutely LOVE basil. My favourites? Thai food (I know. Probably not the "correct" kind of basil, but even so), a chiffonade on salad, and, of course, pesto.

I don't know if this appeals to you, of course, but what I've done in the past is to stuff as much as I can in the cups of an ice cube tray, fill them with water, then freeze. Not the same as fresh, of course, but, to paraphrase Father Flanagan - "There are no bad basils."

Last edited Wed Nov 20, 2024, 12:51 PM - Edit history (1)

But it's not like I split the atom or anything. To borrow from Joe Theismann, "The word "genius" is over-used, and should never apply to football players. It should be reserved for people like Norman Einstein."

Almost a Yogi-ism.

until it’s completely dry. Then I crumble it and put it into glass jars to use until fresh comes around again next season.

We've planted basil for 15 years & always got plenty.
Even put some in ice trays, filled with water, and froze them, that gave us more or less, fresh basil through the winter.
For some reason we got a rotten yield & the plants kept withering.
Did nothing different.
I'm jealous of your good crop. We'd have 5 trays a basic cubes if we had a good year like you.

My basil did well. So did the eggplants. The tomatoes - well, I had about a dozen out of six plants.