What To Do With Tons Of Basil?

I love growing basil. It is a very simple plant to grow and it is a BIG producer. Plus unlike a lot of herbs, it can BE the main course and not just used to season the main course. The picture above is only one harvesting. Each plant produces this much several times over the spring, summer, and fall. There are so many ways to use basil too. Many people use it for it's medicinal effects. It has natural digestive and anti-gas properties. It is also used as a mood enhancer and to help with anxiety. Here are a couple of my favorite ways to use it.

 

 First, pick the leaves off the plant and rinse in cold water to clean off dirt. Then pat dry with a towel.

Pesto:

-Large handful of basil (about a two cups)

-A few garlic cloves (I use 3 but you can use more or less depending on your taste preference)

-A handful of pine nuts (I used walnuts above and the taste was just as good and for less than half the cost of pine nuts)

-About a 1/4 cup of olive oil 

-Salt and Pepper to taste

Throw all the ingredients into a food processor (in that order) and blend it together until it's smooth. Serve on top of pasta as a main dish or on garlic bread (my favorite). 

Tomato and Basil Bake:

This recipe is so easy and can be varied in so many ways I'm not going to write it in a recipe format. Just slice some tomatoes (however many you want), top each slice with a basil leaf, and then drizzle with olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste, bake @ 350 for about 20 minutes and enjoy. You can also bake it with parmesan, feta, or mozzarella cheese. This is really good side dish for white beans or a roasted chicken. 

You can also dry your basil to make your own tea. However, I like the taste of fresh basil so I throw a bunch into a blender with some water. Once it is pretty smooth I pour it into ice cube trays and freeze to be used in the winter. That way I can just grab a basil ice cube out of a bag in the freezer and toss it into soup, broth, beans, or pasta sauces and it tastes like I just picked it from the garden.

The other great thing about basil? It is just plain old free food. I bought a basil plant several years ago and have never had to purchase it again. In the winter you collect the seed (from the flowering tops of the plant pictured below) and save it to be planted again in the spring.

 

Each of these little pods has about 4-5 seeds inside and as you can see there are a lot of little pods!

                               So you will have plenty of seeds to share with friends too.