What to do with a bunch of fresh Basil?

I just came back from the farmers market and bought a big bunch of fresh basil. It was so cheap and smells soo good.

Now what do I do with it???

Sat. Jul 22, 1:53pm

mmmmm basil....

it's one of my favorites :D It's awesome chopped up in a fresh salad, works great for seasoning italian type or tomato dishes.. (basil and red wine with tomatos and garlic and stuff on pan seared chicken is awesome)
ooh!! I found a really great bruchetta recipe a while ago that uses fresh basil too. Let me see if I can find the link...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_6688,00.html

REALLY good stuff :D

Best of luck! let me know what you decided to do with it and how it came out :D I looooove basil.. hehe

~sennyo

Saturday, July 22, 2006, 3:02 PM

make bruschetta, top pizza with it, make pesto sauce (one of my fav. sauces) & stir it into pasta.
basically cook italian style and it will taste good with almost anything. or like i said, pesto is easy to make, delicious, and freezes well.

Saturday, July 22, 2006, 3:22 PM

Go with the Pesto sauce! Such a treat! Make it light by stiring in lots of veggies with your pasta, or eat is with just steamed veggies. I have to do this at least once a year with fresh basil. MMMmmmmm.

Sunday, July 23, 2006, 7:12 AM

basil is fantastic and versatile!! aside from pesto, you could make a caprese salad-which is just tomatoes, mozarella (the fresh stuff), a little drizzle of olive oil (optional lemon juice, salt/pepper) and shredded basil.

you can also use the basil as a "lettuce" on a grilled pannini sandwhich-like grilled portobello mushroom and mozarella and basil.

Sunday, July 23, 2006, 5:36 PM

Bruschetta is yummy!

Here's another recipe:

1) Slice up a couple of garden tomatoes (i.e. ones with good color and FLAVOR, not the pale pink ones found at the grocery stores.

2) Slice fresh Buffalo Mozzarell into 1/4-1/2 inch slices.

3) Alternate on a plate, the mozarella and the tomatoes

4) Cut the basil into strips (or leave them whole-- it depends on who you are feeding the dish to.... Cutting into thin strips lets the flavor come out.)

5) Drizzle on top with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

6) Sprinkle lightly with a little sea salt (or kosher salt) -- Either tastes better than table salt, and won't be as salty as sprinkling with table salt. The goal is to get only a few big grains on each tomato or Mozzarella slice)

7) Coarsely grind some fresh ground pepper on top.

8) (Optional) - You can also sprinkle on a little fresh shreded (not grated) parmesan--this is good if serving on bruschetta crackers (or little slices of italian bread.)

You can also toss this with a little pasta as well!!

IrisSVB

Monday, July 24, 2006, 2:29 AM

basil works very well with strawberries, too! slice up some strawberries and tear some basil leaves into the bowl. let stand for about 20-30 minutes-tastes tremendous! great spooned over pound-cake or sorbet, too!

Monday, July 24, 2006, 9:41 AM

You can make a lower calorie, but still delicious, pesto by making it without the pine nuts and with water and just a touch of oil. And the parmesan cheese, of course, but not a ton -- mostly basil. SO YUMMY.

Monday, July 24, 2006, 5:23 PM

Basil - torn up, Fresh Tomatoes - quartered up, mozzarella or feta, some basmatic vinger with just a drizzle of olive oil and volio - fresh salad!

Monday, July 24, 2006, 5:31 PM

I do exactly as Irissvb does. I love the balsamic vinegar touch to the caprese salad.

Pesto is another favorite. I usually make a garden veggie soup by throwing into my crockpot:
chicken broth
whatever veggies are in the fridge or freezer
can of dicedstewed tomatoes
bay leaf, basil, oregano

I make fresh pesto and add a dollop into my veggie soup. What a treat!

Monday, July 24, 2006, 5:59 PM

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