You need to blanch the basil for only five seconds, and you don’t want to blanch it for more than 10. Doing this leaches out a wee bit of the basil’s vivid flavor, but not enough to change that of the pesto significantly.
My answer is bring a large pot of water to a boil. Put the basil and parsley in a sieve and plunge it into the boiling water, pushing the leaves down into the water and stirring them so they blanch evenly. Blanch for 15 seconds, then plunge the herbs into the ice water to stop the cooking. Drain immediately, squeeze the herbs dry, and roughly chop.
Can you use frozen basil leaves to make pesto?
1 Spin the blanched leaves dry in a salad spinner (or pat dry as best you can). 2 Lay out on a cookie sheet and freeze until firm, 12-24 hours. 3 Transfer leaves to a freezer bag – they start thawing immediately, so move quickly.
How do you Blanch Basil before cooking?
Quickly blanch the basil. Prepare a bowl of ice water and set aside near your stove. Fill a small saucepan halfway with water and bring to a boil. Drop the basil leaves in the boiling water and blanch for 5 to 10 seconds or until wilted. Using tongs, transfer the basil leaves to prepared ice water to stop cooking.
, and puree leaves. Pop frozen basil cubes out of the tray and place in a plastic bag. The basil work best for soups and stews. Add it during the last bit of cooking time. You can also tear or coarsely chop basil leaves, place them in an ice cube tray and cover with water and freeze and store the same way.
Does pesto go bad?
As with any type of sauce made from fresh, oily ingredients, pesto goes bad at some point. The storage life of pesto is limited because olive oil and pine nuts are high in oils that could go rancid much faster than other ingredients.
While writing we ran into the inquiry “How long does pesto sauce last?”.
We should dig a little deeper! pesto is a sauce made from fresh basil, pine nuts, and olive oil. It is often used as a pasta sauce as well as a dip or sandwich spread. Since pesto sauce is made with fresh basil, along with other ingredients high in oil, its shelf life after opening is quite limited. The good news is pesto sauce has plenty of uses.
It is easy to tell if pesto has gone bad, check for significant discoloration. Fresh pesto sauce is a vivid shade of green but will oxidize over time. The oxidation usually at the top, spots that were not submerged well in oil.
How do you make pesto?
So, for the past 30 years, that’s how I make pesto. I just process the basil and the olive oil. I put the herb mixture in containers portioned for one dinner, and then pour a thick layer of oil on top. This oil is really the key, so don’t skimp. It seals the pesto totally, so no air can seep in and impact its quality.
This is what my research found. drizzling a bit of olive oil on the top can help to prolong the quality slightly. You might be wondering if you can freeze pesto: the good news is that its shelf life can be extended by storing it in the freezer! This will of course change the texture once thawed so it is recommended you freeze it in small amounts.