Friday, September 19, 2008

Frozen Basil Pesto Cubes

It's canning and freezing time here, as summer comes to a close. Today the temperature climbed up to almost 90 F, and we can probably expect the first hard frost in the next couple of weeks. Welcome to North Dakota. I have been canning tomatoes and freezing baggies of chopped collard greens, and would like to make some dried chilies and sun-dried tomatoes if I get around to it. My basil is still growing like wild, so I cut a bunch last week and made frozen pesto cubes. I'll add these basil pesto cubes to soups and pasta sauces over the winter, or thaw them to use anywhere else pesto would be nice.
I kept this simple - lots of basil, a cup or so of walnuts, a few spoonfuls of lemon juice, 2 cloves of garlic, a half cup of decent olive oil, and some salt. Blend it all well, freeze in ice cube trays sprayed lightly with canola oil for easy removal, and store the cubes in aluminum foil or a freezer bag. I'll appreciate this in the middle of winter, though I'm doing my best not to think of that right now.


2 comments:

Lisa (Show Me Vegan) said...

What a great idea. Your basil looks so lush. I've neglected mine this year due to chaos created by a backyard project. Hope to treat it better next year and maybe I can freeze extra pesto too!

Anonymous said...

are they supposed to be that color?