What To Do with Lots of Basil

Freezer flavor bombs!

My basil is overflowing this year! I use fresh basil in daily meals, and I’ve dehydrated a lot of basil to use over the winter, and then there’s pesto. It’s a great way to use up a lot of fresh basil and store it in handy little cups to drop into…..

Rice
Potatoes
Soups and stews
Dressings
Sauces
Meats

For meats–I mix it in ground beef before making hamburgers. Rub on chickens or steaks or pork chops or fish. So many ways to use these little freezer flavor bombs, and they’re quick to make if you have a food processor. You can add, or subtract, anything you like or don’t like (and even use various additional herbs as well), but here is the basic recipe I use.

Per 4 cups fresh basil leaves–
2 tablespoons chopped fresh garlic
1 cup parmesan
2/3 cup walnuts*
1 teaspooon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup olive oil

*Pine nuts are traditional for pesto, but walnuts are a fine substitute. Because who keeps pine nuts on hand???

Put everything into a food processor, except the olive oil. Slowly drizzle the olive oil into the food processor through the tube opening at the top as you pulse the ingredients.

This amount will make about 10 2-ounce cups of pesto. I doubled this yesterday to make 20 cups The cups are sold as condiment cups. (You can find them at Wal-Mart, for example.)

Place the cups inside a freezer zip bag. Take out a cup or two as needed! I love these!