Preserving Fresh Basil - Chopping and freezing in oil

My basil is doing really well this year, actually it does well every year I've planted it. I have one container that started to bolt and at first I let it go, just to enjoy the blooms and watching that plant do it's thang. But then I noticed that the stems were really stretching out and less and less leaves were being produced. This seems to make sense as the plant is putting forth all its energy into producing flowers and seeds for next year.

Well, I decided to give my basil plant a haircut and see if I can make it bush out a little more and get more leaves....which is really what I want.

I trimmed two big handfuls of flowers off and stripped all the leaves from the trimmings. I had quite a bit, too much to use before it went bad so I was on a search for preserving it.

This is the first method I will experiment with, simply wash and dry the leaves, throw them in your food processor or chop them up by hand. Drizzle a little oil on to make a paste. Spoon into sandwich bags and seal them up so they lay nice and flat. Label and freeze. When you want to use some, just unzip the bag and break off as much as you need.

I'll try and post comments to this article when I've tried it out.

Happy gardening!