2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Basil helps us to diversify the taste of even the most ordinary dishes. Nowadays, this spicy plant can be freely purchased at the store or even grown in your own garden. However, not everyone knows how to store it. And you can save this spicy herb in a variety of ways - having familiarized yourself with them in more detail, any hostess will certainly be able to choose the most suitable option
How to store?
When choosing a basil, it is extremely important to pay attention to the fact that its leaves are not wilted and do not have dark spots or any flaws.
Since basil contains a fairly large amount of water, you can place its stems in a glass and pour water over the roots. There is no need to close the glass, the main thing is to place it in such a way that the direct rays of the sun do not fall on it. In this form, the wonderful spicy herb is able to stay fresh for about one and a half to two weeks. And if you close the glass with plastic wrap and press down on the edges with an elastic band, the greens can last up to three weeks.
In the event that not a lot of basil was bought, but it is planned to use it in the coming days, the leaves are laid on a damp towel, after which they are well wrapped, placed in a plastic bag and sent to the refrigerator. In this case, the greens can easily be preserved for three to four days.
You can also put the crushed basil in a container, salt it, pour it with high-quality olive oil and refrigerate. Two or three months of safe storage in this case are guaranteed! And the basil-soaked olive oil can be used to make a great salad dressing.
Freeze basil
To preserve basil throughout the winter, it must be frozen. By the way, there are several ways to freeze this healthy spice.
The easiest way is to rinse the basil leaves in water and place them on a paper towel to allow any remaining moisture to absorb. Next, the twigs are transferred to parchment and sent to the freezer. In this case, it is important to try to place them in such a way that the leaves, if possible, do not come into contact with each other. In this form, the greens are frozen for an hour, after which they are laid out in small bags with fasteners and, squeezing the air out of them, the greens are placed in the freezer. And they get it out of there as needed. With this storage method, basil does not lose its nutritional properties throughout the year.
You can also place whole basil leaves on a tray and put them in the freezer for a couple of hours. And as soon as they freeze, they must be transferred to airtight containers. At the same time, you should not fill containers tightly with leaves, otherwise they will quickly lose their shape. The leaves frozen in this way can be used whole for decorating soups or pasta, or you can chop them finely and also add to any dishes.
You can freeze basil in another way. To do this, the leaves of a spicy plant are crushed using a blender or a knife, and then transferred to ice molds and filled with water. When the basil is frozen, the cubes are removed from the molds and put in a bag, which in turn is sent to storage in the freezer.
Some hostesses also freeze basil leaves with olive oil - pour the chopped leaves with olive oil, and then pack them in small portions into zip-bags and place them in the freezer. Basil can also be stored in this way for up to a year.
Salt basil
On the bottom of a dry and clean clay pot, salt is poured in a layer of one centimeter. However, instead of a pot, you can also use a ceramic container with a lid or a jar. Then dry and clean basil leaves are placed in the container. Each layer of leaves is sprinkled with salt, continuing to do this until the container is filled to the top (5 cm to the lid are left free). And after every ten layers, the leaves must be lightly pressed, making sure that they are not damaged. The topmost layer of the basil leaves is sprinkled with plenty of salt. Next, the container must be shaken well and knocked lightly on it - the salt should easily penetrate into all the layers and cracks formed. When this is done, the container of basil is moved to a dry and cool place, ideally in the basement or closet.
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