Freezing Basil, Photo of Cuties

Ever wonder if you can freeze basil? You sure can. Here's my first harvest, three big, beautiful, aromatic plants. I'll tell you how to successfully freeze your basil so it won't turn black. And speaking of black, there's a picture of two of the three "Cuties" down there at the bottom of this post. :-)

Fresh Basil

To Freeze Fresh Basil

-Keep the leaves on the stems and immerse them in several changes of water to thoroughly clean.
-Bring a large pot of water to a boil and fill a large bowl or your sink with ice water.
-Holding the end of the stems in "bouquets," quickly dip the whole stem (up to your fingers, of course) into the  boiling water and then immediately plunge them into the ice water. Repeat till you've used up all your basil.
-Remove the basil from the ice water and drain thoroughly, then roll in a clean cotton towel to dry further.
-Pull leaves from stems and place into the bowl of your food processor. Put the lid on and pulse, drizzling canola oil into the bowl, until the mass of leaves moves freely. Process just until leaves are evenly chopped in small pieces. Avoid over-processing or you'll end up with green slime.
-Spoon into ice cube trays or small 2 ounce containers. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze.
-When frozen, pop the basil-sickles into a large zippy freezer bag and return to the freezer.
-Label and use within a year to flavor soups (such as tomato) or sauces (such as spaghetti/marinara).

Jasper & Henry Ford

How about that foot action? hahaha Our cats make me happy.

With love from me to you...
GG