Recipe Archives->Preserving->Herb Oil

Herb-oil Based Concentrate

2 cups clean, hard-packed leaves of your favorite fresh herb
1/2 cup of your favorite oil

Combine the leaves and oil in a food processor, and chop until they
form a paste.  Freeze the paste until it is needed for a recipe.
Ice cube trays provide an ideal sized cube of concentrate, but
they're messy to clean afterwards.  Once the cubes have frozen,
transfer them to a zip-lock bag for storage.  I've also used muffin
tins for the initial freezing, but these produce cubes a little
too large for my purposes.  Another method for freezing and storage
is to put the concentrate into small plastic containers.

Notes: The oil coats everything, and helps protect the herbs from
freezer burn.

If you're making pesto this year, buy a few extra pounds of basil
and try this.  This process produces a concentrate that can be used
in place of fresh herbs in many recipes.

Printable version: herb-oil.txt.