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    Home » Recipes » Pasta & Pizza

    Basil Harvest Two Ways: Pesto Base & Basil Oil

    Published: Sep 2, 2021 · Modified: Feb 16, 2022 by Cara Kretz · This post may contain affiliate links · 4 Comments

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    • Basil Pesto & OilI love harvest time! Ever wonder what is the best way to preserve basil from your garden? My favorite way is to make a basil oil and a basil puree to be used for pesto that can be frozen for longer use. The Basil Oill is great drizzled on a Caprese Salad. This recipe makes enough for both Basil Oil and my Basil, Arugula, Walnut Pesto Pasta recipe. 

    Basil Arugula Walnut Pesto

    Watch the video on how to easily preserve your fresh basil.

    Basil Pesto & Oil
    Print Pin

    Basil Harvest Two Ways: Pesto & Basil Oil

    The best way to preserve your garden basil is by making a Basil Pesto that can be frozen, and a Basil Oil. Freeze the pesto in portions needed for a pasta meal.
    Course Preserving
    Servings 4 cups
    Author Homemade Italian Cooking with Cara

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups olive oil
    • 4 cups tightly packed sweet basil leaves
    • 1 tablespoon salt

    Instructions

    • Remove any woody stems or dead leaves from the basil.
    • Add salt to large pot, and bring to a boil. Have a large bowl of ice water ready. Blanch the basil leaves in the boiling water for about 10- 20 seconds until just wilted and bright green. Remove them quickly with a strainer and dunk in the ice water, swishing them around to be sure they’re all cold. Remove from the water and squeeze gently to remove the excess water. Pat dry.
    • Roughly chop the basil and put it in a blender. Slowly add the olive oil 1 cup at a time oil and blend until the basil is puréed. The mixture will be very frothy.
    • Save half of the puree as a pesto base. Freeze in portion sizes or use immediately to make a batch of your favorite pesto in the same food food processor.
    • Let the other half of bail purée settle for about 30 minutes.
    • Strain the remaining basil puree through a cheesecloth lined fine-mesh strainer. Let it drain for another 30 minutes. Squeeze the rest of the juice and oil out of the cheesecloth.
    • Store in a glass jar. Use immediately or refrigerate for up to a week. For the best flavor, let the oil come to room temperature before using.
    • Bonus: Walnut Pesto Recipe using frozen Pesto Base
      1 ½ cup Pesto Base, thawed
      1 cup walnuts, shelled and roasted
      4 cloves garlic, peeled
      1 teaspoon black pepper
      ½ cup olive oil 
      1 ½ heaping cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
      Put walnuts and garlic in food processor. Pulse until coarse crumbs. Add thawed Pesto Base, salt & pepper. Pulse until well blended. While processor is running, drizzle in enough olive oil (up to a ½ cup) until a nice thick, yet pourable sauce is reached.  Add the parmesan cheese and pulse to blend. The sauce should be served room temperature, and is ready to use over hot pasta or as desired. 
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Polly Gosselin

      August 08, 2020 at 12:28 pm

      Can you be more specific about how you use the basil puree to make pesto after it has been frozen?

      Reply
      • Cara Kretz

        August 09, 2020 at 10:39 am

        Polly - Thank you for the question! I added a quick Pesto recipe at the end of the blog post recipe for a Walnut Pesto using the frozen base. I hope this helps. Best, Cara

        Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. Easy Homemade Pasta • Homemade Italian Cooking says:
      March 4, 2016 at 8:54 am

      […] and a “class” in making homemade pasta. We made angel hair pasta and served it with a Pesto sauce, alongside Chicken […]

      Reply
    2. Tomato Harvest: Italian Caprese Salad • Homemade Italian Cooking says:
      October 14, 2015 at 8:37 am

      […] as good as the color!  Wow.  Next use a quality extra-virgin olive oil. In this recipe I used my homemade Basil Oil – extra virgin olive oil infused with basil from my garden.  Thanks to my cousin Lois, an […]

      Reply

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    Hi, I'm Cara Mia Cipolla. My goal is to pass on my recipes, tips and secrets and hopefully inspire others to become great home cooks. In addition to the blog, I also write cookbooks, teach cooking classes, and take on the occasional consulting project for other culinary businesses.

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