Basil Bonanza

Summer is quickly winding down . . . as is our summer garden.  And while the tomatoes and peppers are not as plentiful as they once were, we still have LOTS of basil left.  Not wanting it to go to waste, we've come up with a few easy ways to make this sweet herb last as long as possible.  We found a quick & healthy recipe for fresh pesto + a simple tutorial on how to dry the herbs.

Check out some of our tips for what to do with your own basil bonanza after the jump.

Probably the easiest way to make your fresh basil last is to dry it out and store it in an herb jar.

Once you've gathered your basil, you'll want to wash it with a fine mist sprayer & gently wipe the leaves to remove dirt & debris.  Pat dry with a paper towel.

Then you'll want to tie the herbs into small bundles with kitchen string.  Each bunch should contain no more than 5 to 10 stems.

Next, hang the bunches in a dry, dark, and warm (but not humid) place with good ventilation.  Our coat closet/pantry proved to be the perfect place for our drying.

Finally, after leaving the herbs to hang dry for 1-3 weeks (until the leaves crush easily between your fingers), remove them from their binding and crush the leaves however works best for you.  We used a mortar & pestle.

The dried, crushed herbs can then be stored in jars for up to 1 year.  Just make sure to label your containers with the date, so you know when to toss anything that might be left after the expiration date! 

I have to admit that I first found the thought of making my own basil pesto a little intimidating, but once I found this simple, tasty recipe from Skinny Taste, all fears were quickly allayed.  A few easily-accesible ingredients make this tasty sauce a no-brainer that eliminates a lot of the oil & fat present in most pestos!

Start by gathering your ingredients:

- 4 cups basil

- 4 cloves garlic

- 1 cup grated parmesan

- Salt & Pepper to taste

- 9 tablespoons of olive oil

(Since we were making a large quantity of pesto to keep and store for later use, we quadrupled the original Skinny Taste recipe for our purposes.)

Combine the basil, garlic, parmesan cheese, and salt & pepper in a food processor and pulse until smooth. 

Slowly add the olive oil while pulsing until well-blended.

The finished product may be stored in containers or ziploc bags and refrigerated or frozen for later use. This quadrupled recipe will yield approximately 1 1/4 cups of pesto. 

We couldn't wait to try some of our fresh pesto out, so we whipped up these Roasted Chicken & Pesto Flatbread pizzas.  Delish!