DIY - fresh basil ice cubes!
yesterday i harvested a HUGE bunch of basil from my container garden - it filled an entire large colander once i removed all of the stems! i harvested the basil because i want to to keep producing for the rest of the summer but i didn’t really want to cook anything basil-y yesterday so i made fresh basil cubes and now i’ll have fresh basil whenever i want it for months!
here’s how you can do it too!
- after you wash your basil start filling your food processor with it - mine is very tiny so i had to keep adding basil, pulsing, and adding more until it was all in there. add a little bit of oil of you want it to get a bit pastier i think i added maybe 2-3 teaspoons of oil to my entire colander of basil.
- puree the basil until it’s chopped as small as you’d like it to be - i didn’t want mine TOO pureed so i left it a little leafy!
- now stir up the chopped basil puree to make sure the liquids are all evenly distributed and get out an ice cube tray - mine is a silicone tray from ikea but any tray should work!
- fill each ice cube mold with basil, making sure to press down so the basil really fills the mold - don’t toss the liquid from the bottom of your food processor, pour a bit into each basil cube, it’s full of good basil-y flavor!
- put the ice cube tray into the freezer! leave it there till your basil cubes are frozen. i left mine over night just because.
- once frozen remove your ice cube tray from the freezer and un-mold the cubes! you can store them in a ziplock freezer bag until you want to use them! and now you have home-grown fresh basil for the winter!
you can do this with any fresh herb! for example if you buy a bunch of dill and only need a few sprigs, puree the rest and freeze it for next time! never waste leftover herbs again!!!
Fortuneandglory, did you see this?
