Dry Basil

With basil, there’s almost always some left at season’s end, and throwing it away is wasteful. But you can dry basil at the end of the growing season so you can enjoy it for a long time afterward. Here’s how.

• Dry Basil Leaves

It isn’t easy to dry basil leaves successfully, but it can certainly be done. One way is to place a layer of basil leaves between paper towels to dry. You could alternatively put the leaves into a shallow dish, and mix them every day. Once they are totally dry, you can store them in a jar.

• Dry Whole Basil Stems

You can cut entire stems of basil and hang them upside down wherever it is convenient to do so. The basil that is drying looks and smells nice, so it adds to the ambiance of your kitchen if that’s where you’ve hung it. When it is completely dry, take the leaves from the stems and crumble them into a jar. It is important to ensure that the leaves are completely dry and crisp so that they won’t develop mold. You can run large quantities of dried basil leaves through a food processor to grind them up. Dry basil is excellent for sauces and on pizza.

• Store Basil in Olive Oil

While it isn’t a way to dry basil, you can blend the fresh leaves into olive oil and refrigerate it in small batches. If you remove the leaves from the oil, you can use the oil for cooking. It will have taken on the flavor of basil.

• Freeze Basil

Fresh basil is easy to freeze. All you do is put leaves in ice cube trays with water and freeze them. The frozen basil ice cubes are perfect for cooking. Did you know you can also freeze pesto sauce? It’s another great all-purpose ingredient that goes great in many Italian recipes.