The Cultivating Garden #35: First Big Basil Harvest and Making Frozen Basil Olive Oil Cubes

The long wait is over! I have finally harvested and processed my first round of basil. Of course, this is very late in the season but I started them from seeds this year in May, so we’re finally catching up. And indeed, for the past month I have been plucking leaves for regular caprese salads and the occasional batch of ratatouille but this week’s “plunder” was a full-on harvest operation since after all, some leaves were massive and other plants needed pruning and “pinching” etc and with so many many plants I figured I’d just commit to picking all I could for something big.

I happily harvested the herb over the course of two days and washed each leaf individually in my kitchen sink because I’m weird like that. I have a thing for enjoying long, drawn out processes. And acknowledging one-by-one each leaf I’ve grown from seed during their rinse is the best part.

What Did I Do With The Goods?

Since I did not have any pine nuts or parmesan cheese on hand to make pesto, and because I wanted to process the leaves immediately before they wilted, I decided on freezing them into cubes per my mom’s suggestion.

This process is very easy and requires only the additional ingredient of olive oil, which I always have on hand. Basically you blend olive oil and basil leaves with a food processor or immersion blender until the leaves are broken down (it doesn’t have to be a thorough blend).

Then you pour the mixture into ice cube trays and freeze them. I used two cups of olive oil with about two cups of basil. I didn’t add any garlic or salt, but I kind of regret that. I may experiment with it in the next iteration of cubes…

Avoid overfilling each compartment when pouring the mixture into the cubes because the fuller the tray is, the messier it will be to remove them later. Of course, you shouldn’t leave the trays in the freezer for too long either because they will get freezer burn or otherwise lose their freshness.

Once they are done freezing (I kept mine in a day, but I’m sure they were done long before that) pop them out of their trays and seal them in a zip-lock. Note: if your cubes are being stubborn and don’t want to come out, leave the tray upside down for a bit while they defrost, after about 5 minutes they will loosen up.

The cubes will make a little mess when removing them, but it’s OK if each piece doesn’t look perfect. But do try to get the cubes out of the tray and into the zip-lock bag and back into the freezer as soon as possible. You don’t want to lose a bunch of your goods to melting.

They will survive the winter in there as convenient “building blocks” for warm winter meals. If there is little consolation for the onset of winter, it is that I will get to experiment with these delicious little cubes soon.

And finally, below are picture of my three “zones” of basil. This is how they all look a few days after the harvest. I know it seems impossible, but they look even fuller and healthier than before! I was sure to be very strategic about where I snipped leaves from to thin them out and make sure the next round gets all the light they need to grow again.

Cheers!