Quick question regarding basil & fresh tomatoes

My daughter is going off to college again. I'm sending her off with lots of my homegrown tomatoes and some store bought shrinked-wrapped fresh mozzerella balls. She loves Insalata Caprese (you all know, of course....fresh mozzerella, tomatoes slices, basil, and Evoo).

My question is how do I send my fresh basil along so that it will keep for awhile? I THINK, but am not sure, that I can rinse & dry the basil leaves. Then either snip them (or not) and just put them in a smallish jar with olive oil. Would that work and "keep" for a few months? Also, if that's 'how to do it', should the jar be refrigerated or not? If that won't work, I'd love to hear how to do it.

TIA for any help/suggestions!

M_Y_H

that will keep it, and she'll have a nice supply of petroleum jelly when she gets to school.

A girl can't have too much lube, as I'm sure you know.........................................

You wash the leaves and spin them fairly dry, then roll them up in one layer in paper towels. Store the roll of towels and basil leaves in a large plastic baggie. An old bread bag works well, just the right size.

Leaf lettuce keeps this way for a couple of weeks, so basil should do about the same with this treatment. It keeps them from getting too soggy or too dry in the fridge.

Does that mean that the olive oil/pesto idea won't work?

Oils infused with herbs are best used quite quickly. If they are allowed to sit especially at room temp they are prone to growing all kinds of nasty bacteria. Herbs in Vinegar are a little safer. The best way to save fresh basil is to freeze it in ice cube trays and keep it frozen until you are ready to use it. Pesto made without the cheese freezes well too. But it needs to be kept frozen until you are ready to use it.

If you store garlic in oil at room temperature, that's what can develop. I wouldn't keep anything in oil at room temperature. Not worth the risk.


Better to dry the basil. It will still have flavor.

but for a few months, I'd suggest making the paste and freeze it in ice cube trays, then popping the cubes into a plastic bag. That way whenever she has the urge she can thaw one or two cubes and it'll taste almost as good as fresh.

I have basil-in-oil cubes in my freezer for most of the winter.

your daughter is not 18 but older - with Mozzarella, homegrown Maters and Ocimum basilicum, I think I would have changed my name.
I like to lurk in this forum, and every now and then post since I'm a bread baker and cook of many /most things German. But this just stretches credulity to a point where, even if I wanted to know the answer I don't think I'd go looking for it.

But then, that's just me. Probably not understanding an entire new Universe of securing Insalata Caprese on campus.

And even then, you need a refrigerator. Surely there's a market near campu.

Or buy her a potted basil plant to put in her windowsill.

that's exactly what I concluded. Buying her a potted basil plant is the answer.

Thanks :hi:

and it will grow its own roots. Even a tiny snip of basil will root itself, but for a faster-growing plant, select a longish stem and snip off the first couple of leaf sets and plant those snipped areas into the soil.

Basil roots quite quickly. Just be sure to have a nice-size pot so she can grow a decent-sized plant.

You could even pack the basil, soil and pot separately and assemble at school for less mess in transit.

:hi:

packed in flower dept. type container with water at bottom!

Was 'growing' it, that is, placed in large cup, on porch, until called out of town. Brought it to sunny window inside. Will see if it's survived when I return tomorrow!

sitting in my kitchen in a glass of water.

I snipped a couple of stalks almost a month ago now and set it in a non-sunny window.

I take a handful of leaves at a time and keep changing the water every once in a while and the darn stuff has roots and a new flower stem ever day or so...

Think I'll 'grow' it year 'round, in my new 'old' house!