Comments on: Basil: Not Just for Pesto

By: nommynom» Blog Archive » Basil Gremolata

nommynom» Blog Archive » Basil Gremolata — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:53:23 +0000

[...] nommynom « Basil: Not Just for Pesto [...]

By: Kelly

Kelly — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:50:36 +0000

You certainly could use it in place of Pesto. Next post up will be a Basil Gremolata which takes this recipe a step further, and is certainly a great replacement for Pesto in its own right.

By: Jocelyne

Jocelyne — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:28:50 +0000

This sounds really great! Could you use this to sub in for pesto? My guy is allergic to nuts, so reg. pesto is a no-no.

By: Kitchen Butterfly

Kitchen Butterfly — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:48:02 +0000

Making pesto is great – many uses. Delightful taste, colour and texture. And I re cently discovered the different types of basil – lemon, holy, sweet and italian.

By: I am Ivar

I am Ivar — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 17:23:38 +0000

Great tip, looking forward hearing some of your basil recipies!

By: Kelly

Kelly — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:21:54 +0000

You can dry basil by simply hanging it upside down where there is a good flow of air and letting it dry out naturally. A food dehydrator will turn the leaves black though.
I should mention that the bulk of the flavor in basil lies in the essential oils in the leaves. Those oils diminish quite a bit when Basil is dried leaving it tasting a ghost of itself.
Another alternative is to wash and very quickly blanch the Basil (really no more than 5 seconds), shock it in some ice water, pat it dry, put the whole thing in a freezer bag and freeze it. You can then just break off chunks through out the year to use.

By: Helen Shorey (Gala98)

Helen Shorey (Gala98) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 08:44:40 +0000

I grew my own basil this year but I have no idea what to do with it! LOL This will at least let me keep some until I find a recipe I fancy! Is it possible to dry basil – any tips?

By: Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food.

Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food. — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:30:12 +0000

I feel lucky in that sense to live only 15-30 minutes drive from farms and markets. But wish I had more oportunities/time for the drive :)

By: Kelly

Kelly — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:22:06 +0000

Oh you got a steal! I’m hoping they will be that low in price this weekend so I can get to freezing up some more. I use this mix as a base to make pesto and other basil-ey condiments (recipes of which will be coming up in a couple posts this weekend!)

By: Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food.

Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food. — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:18:12 +0000

That’s very close to what I did 2 days ago, only instead of lemon I threw in 1-2 cloves of garlic, and into the freezer in small freezer-friendly containers.
I bought 2 big bunches of the most fragrany basil for only $1.5 each! at a farm stand.