# Basil paste



## amber (Sep 4, 2005)

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?


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## kadesma (Sep 4, 2005)

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


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## Andy M. (Sep 4, 2005)

...and you could leave the stems on the smaller leaves and take off the bigger ones.


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## amber (Sep 4, 2005)

Thanks Kadesma and Andy!


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## Floridagirl (Sep 4, 2005)

stupid question.........what is evoo ?


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## kadesma (Sep 4, 2005)

Floridagirl said:
			
		

> stupid question.........what is evoo ?


florida, not stupid, smart  evoo is extra virgin olive oil..I'm lazy and it faster to type evoo than the whole thing..
kadesma


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## Floridagirl (Sep 4, 2005)

ahhhhhhhh now I see clear   thanks for the quick answer kadesma


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## kadesma (Sep 4, 2005)

You're welcome 

kadesma


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## Constance (Sep 5, 2005)

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.


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## BellaCucina (Sep 5, 2005)

Constance said:
			
		

> 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.


 
What a good idea Constance. I've never tried doing that but I'm going to make some using your method today.


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## LEFSElover (Sep 5, 2005)

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.


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## BellaCucina (Sep 5, 2005)

LEFSElover said:
			
		

> The asorbic acid keeps the herb green.


 
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!)


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## urmaniac13 (Sep 8, 2005)

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


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## Floridagirl (Sep 8, 2005)

Licia, thanks for the great recipe!!!


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## urmaniac13 (Sep 8, 2005)

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


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## amber (Sep 8, 2005)

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.


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## Floridagirl (Sep 8, 2005)

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.


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## urmaniac13 (Sep 8, 2005)

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


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## BellaCucina (Sep 8, 2005)

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!


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## Andy M. (Sep 8, 2005)

I've used pistachios in place of the pine nuts and that tastes great!


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## urmaniac13 (Sep 8, 2005)

yes I am afraid walnuts has a flavour a little too overpowering in pesto, cashew has more delicate taste which will compliment other ingredients. actually cashew was originally used as a kind of filler so you wouldn't have to use so much of expensive pine nuts, but I think it really gives a nice added flavour!!  Well like I said I just joined today and still having a ball poking my nose here and there (this site is going to be addictive!!), when I am settled down a bit I shall start my italian cuisine 101 here
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





  so stay tuned!!

Licia


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## mish (Sep 8, 2005)

amber said:
			
		

> Does anyone know how to make basil paste? Also, when I freeze fresh basil leaves, should I remove the leaves from the stem?


 
Amber hope I undertand correctly. Haven't heard of basil paste, but first thing that comes to mind is pesto (made with basil). Second part re freezing basil leaves, honestly dont know the answer. But, what I wanted to offer is a handy-dandy trick for freezing pesto in cubes.


Frozen Cubes of Pesto
Basil Pesto can be frozen and popped out of the ice-cube tray when the need arises.

You can freeze pesto in an ice tray spritzed with vegetable oil spray. Snap the cubes out of the tray and store them in 
heavy-duty storage bags. Then you can throw the individual frozen cubes into pasta sauces and stews, or toss with plain hot noodles. Or thaw it and spread on sandwiches. Each cube is about 2 tablespoons, and add them to taste. A little goes a long way.

Any recipe that would benefit from fresh basil and a bit of Parmesan is a good candidate for a pesto cube. They will freeze up to three months.

Basil Pesto
2 medium-size garlic cloves 
2 cups basil leaves (from a 4-ounce package), tightly 
packed 
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts 
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese 
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil 

Peel garlic cloves and drop them through the feed tube of a food processor onto moving blade. Chop finely, and leave chopped garlic in bowl.

Rinse and dry basil leaves, removing any large, tough stems. (A lettuce spinner works well for drying.) Add basil, nuts and cheese to the processor and finely chop. Scrape down sides of bowl.

With motor running, pour olive oil in thin stream through feed tube. Continue until it is mixed in. Remove pesto from bowl, stirring in any olive oil that did not incorporate. Serve at once or freeze up to 3 months. Makes about 1 cup.


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## WaltRb (Sep 9, 2005)

*make basil butter*

This is a good way to give a nice basil flavor to things.
Basil-Horseradish butter
 Just blend together basil, butter, horseradish, salt and a little lemon zest & juice. Roll into cylinders, freeze. Really good on salmon. HTH


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## Constance (Sep 9, 2005)

Super idea, Walt! I'll have to give that a try.


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## Tater Tot (Sep 13, 2005)

Floridagirl said:
			
		

> stupid question.........what is evoo ?


 
Its a term from someone that watches food network too much


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## Claire (Oct 2, 2005)

We're expecting our first frost any time now, and I have a great basil plant.  I already have enough pesto to last the year in the freezer.  I was watching Jacques on TV yesterday morning and plan to follow his advice.  He says to blanch the basil to make it keep its color, then chop in the food processor with a drop of olive oil before freezing.  Usually at this time of year I simply email a couple of neighbors who come and get what basil they need.  One year I had so much that we gave it away to our local Italian restaurant.  Since then I've tried to keep it down a bit!  Yes, remove the stems.  You can remove them now or remove them later, so go with now so you have something ready-to-use in those crunches before dinner parties.


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## Claire (Oct 2, 2005)

Oh, by the way, we experimented with pesto using pistachios instead of pine nuts.  We're hooked.  Next year we're thinking of trying hubby's favorite, hazelnuts.


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## Andy M. (Oct 2, 2005)

Claire said:
			
		

> Oh, by the way, we experimented with pesto using pistachios instead of pine nuts. We're hooked. Next year we're thinking of trying hubby's favorite, hazelnuts.


 
Pistachios are great in pesto.  We love it.

I have also heard that cashews are an option.  I'm going to try them in the next batch.


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