Basil - How to Freeze

Washed basil leaves

Actually today was another day of lots of chopping - onions, peppers, garlic, tomatoes, celery - all for another batch of marinara sauce. Basil, of course, goes into this. My basil is tall and bushy at this point.  It keeps trying to go to seed; I keep snipping off the flower heads.  Japanese beetles have found the basil in the last week or so, munching away on tender leaves. So I know that my fresh basil won't survive for too much longer.  How can I preserve some for this winter?  The internet suggests making and freezing basil pesto.  I might try that another day, but today I decide to simply chop and freeze the basil.

First I stripped all the good-looking leaves from several basil plants into a cool sink of water.  I have both the traditional green basil and a purple Italian basil. I started to give the rinsed leaves a rough knife chop, but honestly, I had been chopping for couple hours all the other marinara ingredients.  There must be an easier way.  I dragged out my little food processor.  It's really small; works well for chopping nuts, but I didn't know if it would handle this. I added 1-2 tablespoons of water to a handful of basil, and gave it a whorl.  It worked great! So much easier and faster than hand chopping!

I put the chopped basil into a couple ice cube trays.  After freezing it in the ice trays, I pop the basil cubes out and transfer them to freezer bags. Now I can add a frozen basil cube to any of my recipes. Sweet!