In the terms and techniques forum, there is a thread entitled "drying herbs". Someone mentioned freezing fresh basil leaves, and making a basil paste to freeze. Does anyone know how to make basil paste? Also, when I freeze fresh basil leaves, should I remove the leaves from the stem?
Basil paste
- Thread starter amber
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Amber.
when I make pesto and want to freeze it I make a paste of the basil, evoo,garlic, then freeze..I don't add any parmesan at that time..I would imagine you could just make a paste of evoo and fresh basil and leave out the garlic, then add what ever you prefer when the paste is thawed.
kadesma
when I make pesto and want to freeze it I make a paste of the basil, evoo,garlic, then freeze..I don't add any parmesan at that time..I would imagine you could just make a paste of evoo and fresh basil and leave out the garlic, then add what ever you prefer when the paste is thawed.
kadesma
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
...and you could leave the stems on the smaller leaves and take off the bigger ones.
Floridagirl
Senior Cook
stupid question.........what is evoo ? 
florida, not stupid, smartFloridagirl said:stupid question.........what is evoo ?
evoo is extra virgin olive oil..I'm lazy and it faster to type evoo than the whole thing..kadesma
Floridagirl
Senior Cook
ahhhhhhhh now I see clear thanks for the quick answer kadesma
thanks for the quick answer kadesma
You're welcome
kadesma
kadesma
Constance
Master Chef
Amber, I make basil paste by putting the leaves in my food processor with a little salt. It's so great to have on hand for soups and sauces in the winter...frozen that way, it maintains that wonderful aroma and fresh taste. I do the same thing with Italian parsley.
BellaCucina
Assistant Cook
Constance said:
What a good idea Constance. I've never tried doing that but I'm going to make some using your method today.
LEFSElover
Executive Chef
I heard on television once, on one of the various cooking/chef shows I was watching at the time, that to preserve the color or the green-ness and not have black basil (if you put it in the freezer) here's what you do. You should take a sizeable amount, a few handfuls in the blender, and with the small amount of olive oil as a medium for it to freeze in, then should toss in a single vitamin C pill into the blender. The asorbic acid keeps the herb green.
Sure everyone knows that if you simply toss fresh basil into a zipper bag and then into the freezer , the basil blackens. I have also used a small tiny bit of water, again, as a medium for the basil, put it in the blender with the fresh basil leaves, made a thick (sauce?) out of it, then put it in ice cube trays or individual packages of 'seal-a-meal' bags. You then have your small portions for when you need just a little. It's not seasoned, so you do that according to what you need the basil in/for. All that basil goes to work for you during the winter when it's not available, or is, but it's stupid expensive.
Sure everyone knows that if you simply toss fresh basil into a zipper bag and then into the freezer , the basil blackens. I have also used a small tiny bit of water, again, as a medium for the basil, put it in the blender with the fresh basil leaves, made a thick (sauce?) out of it, then put it in ice cube trays or individual packages of 'seal-a-meal' bags. You then have your small portions for when you need just a little. It's not seasoned, so you do that according to what you need the basil in/for. All that basil goes to work for you during the winter when it's not available, or is, but it's stupid expensive.
BellaCucina
Assistant Cook
LEFSElover said:
I remember seeing Michael Chiarello doing that, thanks for the reminder. I like to freeze small amounts in the ice cube trays, then transferring to freezer bags as well. Works like a charm.
(No kidding about $$$ Basil!)
urmaniac13
Executive Chef
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2005
- Messages
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Okay here is the authentic pesto recipe straight from Italy!! (Make the pesto first then freeze it, instead of freezing the leaves themselves!!)
-fresh basil leaves separated from the stem and well rinsed, then well drained
-Extra virgin olive oil, make sure it is a good quality. about 3/4 of amount (in grams/ozs) of the leaves.
(please experiment with the amount of below items, adding them gradually... to your personal taste...for a rough measure I use about 75g of cheese, 2 big cloves of garlic 75g of nuts to make about 1lb. of pesto)
-well seasoned parmigiano or pecorino cheese, freshly ground
-cloves of garlic
-mixture of pine nuts and cashew
First you whip the basil with oil in a blender/food processor to make a smooth goo. Then add the next 3 items and mix further until everything is well blended. It can be frozen in rather small amounts, make sure you pack it well and it will freeze fairly quickly. To keep in the fridge you put it in a bottle, and cover the surface with extra olive oil, to avoid the contact with the air. It will last about 2 weeks. Enjoy!!
Licia
-fresh basil leaves separated from the stem and well rinsed, then well drained
-Extra virgin olive oil, make sure it is a good quality. about 3/4 of amount (in grams/ozs) of the leaves.
(please experiment with the amount of below items, adding them gradually... to your personal taste...for a rough measure I use about 75g of cheese, 2 big cloves of garlic 75g of nuts to make about 1lb. of pesto)
-well seasoned parmigiano or pecorino cheese, freshly ground
-cloves of garlic
-mixture of pine nuts and cashew
First you whip the basil with oil in a blender/food processor to make a smooth goo. Then add the next 3 items and mix further until everything is well blended. It can be frozen in rather small amounts, make sure you pack it well and it will freeze fairly quickly. To keep in the fridge you put it in a bottle, and cover the surface with extra olive oil, to avoid the contact with the air. It will last about 2 weeks. Enjoy!!
Licia
Floridagirl
Senior Cook
Licia, thanks for the great recipe!!!
urmaniac13
Executive Chef
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2005
- Messages
- 4,764
Prego dear!! (Not to be confused with that commercial spaghetti sauce in a jar, Prego means "yer welcome!!" in Italian!! )
Since I came to Rome 2 and half years ago I really had to learn the real italian cooking from scratch, and was surprised to realise how badly misinterpreted they are outside of italy!! So I would be more than happy to introduce the "italian food just as the italian folks make it" anyone who are interested!!
Licia
) Since I came to Rome 2 and half years ago I really had to learn the real italian cooking from scratch, and was surprised to realise how badly misinterpreted they are outside of italy!! So I would be more than happy to introduce the "italian food just as the italian folks make it" anyone who are interested!!
Licia
Thanks for that recipe Licia Since your offering us lessons in italian cooking, could you start a thread in the ethnic forum regarding pizza? I've heard that their pizza's do not contain a tomatoe sauce like the one's we have here.
Since your offering us lessons in italian cooking, could you start a thread in the ethnic forum regarding pizza? I've heard that their pizza's do not contain a tomatoe sauce like the one's we have here.
Floridagirl
Senior Cook
that's a great idea with a separate thread, amber.
Licia I love the authentic italian cuisine a lot and every time I'm back home in Germany I make at least 1 trip to Italy.
Licia I love the authentic italian cuisine a lot and every time I'm back home in Germany I make at least 1 trip to Italy.
urmaniac13
Executive Chef
- Joined
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- Messages
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Okay Amber & FG, we also make our own pizzas often at home, but when it comes to the pizza dough my Italian Stallion Cristiano is the real expert. I will get the detailed info from him and post it in the separate thread asap!! Well there are roughly speaking 2 versions of pizza, pizza rossa (red pizza) with tomato sauce, and pizza bianca (white pizza) without tomato sauce, both are equally popular. There are also pizza sandwiches, sweet pizzas etc, actually the word "pizza" refers to the dough, not the finished product so you can do whatever you please with it and still can be called "pizza". (the closest equivalent is what you call "focaccia" in english speaking world.) Well I shouldn't start writing a book here, more on the separate thread probably tomorrow, stay put!!
Licia
Licia
BellaCucina
Assistant Cook
urmaniac13 said:-mixture of pine nuts and cashew
Licia
Oooh, I like the idea of cashews Licia. I've used walnuts with or instead of pinenuts, but I've never tried cashews.
I, too, would love to learn anything you would like to share with us about authentic Italian cooking. Thank you in advance!
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
I've used pistachios in place of the pine nuts and that tastes great!
