Basil Pesto-
In a food processor put a ton of basil, some garlic cloves ( or scapes) to your liking , a good amount of salt
and,if you choose, pine nuts or walnuts. Puree until it is the desired texture. I like mine a little chunky. Slowly
add olive oil until it is your desired thickness. Add parmesean cheese just before you are planning to use the
pesto, it gets kind of gross in the freezer or fridge with the cheese in it. Use this pesto on sandwiches, pasta,
pizza, you name it!
To preserve pesto or plain basil, you can freeze it very easily. Using an ice cube tray will make easy work out
of adding pesto or basil to your recipes. Simply remove the "basil cubes" after they are firmly frozen and put
them in a plastic bag for long term storage, 6 months is about it.
To freeze pesto- just put it in the cubes as is.
To freeze plain basil, chop it and put in ice cube trays with a little bit of water to fill the cube.
I have also heard that you can simply layer basil between sheets of wax paper and keep them in the freezer
whole.
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Basil Lemonade- Crush several springs of basil with 3/4 cup of sugar and blend with 1 cup of fresh lemon
juice and 3 cups of cold water. Be sure to crush well though or you'll get complaints that the basil in your
lemonade looks like seaweed.
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