best way to preserve pesto

But, by day five no amount of adjusting could restore the vibrant flavors of the original. Since I mostly use garden basil, I’ll often make up to 8 batches at a time to keep … Freezing pesto is also super easy. When we checked them a day later, they both were still green, with strong flavors of garlic and basil. This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. If you want to learn how to freeze pesto on a baking sheet, keep reading the article! *If you are going to freeze the pesto - stop here. This article has been viewed 3,659 times. Last Updated: August 25, 2020 wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. The best way to ensure air stays away from the basil is to put a thin layer of oil over the top. Blanch about 1/2 cup of fresh baby spinach per 3 cups of basil in the same manner. We do this by sealing it with a layer of plastic wrap/clingwrap which needs to sit directly on top of the pesto. Then you can transfer it to a freezer bag for easy storage. 22+ Ways to Preserve Basil (& Pesto Isn’t One of Them!) You want Amazon Black Friday Deals? Keeps green in fridge for weeks, although it often does not last that long. Using an Ice Cube Tray Scoop your pesto into an ice cube tray using a spoon. AirPods Pro are already down to $194 for Black Friday, Cyber Monday deals start way before Monday, Ruggable's machine-washable rugs are 20% off for Cyber Monday, The Adidas Cyber Monday deal starts at midnight Sunday, The highly rated Thermapen cooking thermometer is 25% off. If you want to learn how to freeze pesto on a baking sheet, keep reading the article! and required a bit more oil to loosen it up. the best way Using your favorite pesto recipe, blanch the basil in boiling water for a few seconds, shock it in cold water and then squeeze out the liquid. Then we placed both containers in the refrigerator. How this popular SF chef started her own YouTube channel during the... 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If you don’t have parchment paper, use wax paper instead. We also added a few tablespoons of ice water when processing the pesto - this keeps the mixture cold and the flavors intact. There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. To freeze pesto, spoon it into an ice cube tray and put it in the freezer for 3 hours. Keep the pesto covered. wikiHow's. % of people told us that this article helped them. Depending on the size of your freezer, you may only be able to freeze one sheet at a time. All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published, This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. When you’re ready to add your pesto to a dish, all you have to do is grab a piece from the freezer and defrost it in cold water! To freeze, place a small amount of pesto - about 1/2 cup is enough for two pasta servings - on a sheet of plastic wrap. Overall, both methods held their flavor and color the same, so we decided the plastic-covered version was best since it doesn't add extra fat to the recipe. To test how pesto fares in the freezer, we used the spinach-enhanced recipe and tried three methods of storage: in an ice-cube tray, wrapped in plastic wrap, and in a plastic freezer bag. Add a bit more oil to compensate for the additional spinach, if necessary. In one we drizzled an extra teaspoon of olive oil on top and covered the container with plastic wrap. If the pesto is still slightly frozen in the middle, place it in a microwaveable container and heat it in the microwave for 10 seconds. Whether for a quick pasta dinner or as an accessory to a more complex dish, pesto is one item that should always be in your kitchen. You can freeze pesto in larger amounts (1/2 to 1 cup) that can be tossed with pasta for a quick dinner, as well as smaller amounts (1 to 2 tablespoons) that can be added to other dishes for a burst of basil pesto summer flavor when the weather turns less warm and sunny. If you want to immediately defrost them, place a cube of it in a sealable plastic bag in cold water until it defrosts. After defrosting, we detected no differences in flavor or color among the three methods, and no significant deterioration. The plastic-wrapped version was the most convenient because it was easy to remove the pesto without mess or waste. How to freeze homemade pesto. Please help us continue to provide you with our trusted how-to guides and videos for free by whitelisting wikiHow on your ad blocker. There are two ways to go about freezing pesto, each with different end-uses. In the other, we omitted the oil but put the plastic wrap directly on top of the pesto. However, after covering it in plastic and storing it in the refrigerator, the color stayed the same vibrant green for at least five days. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFCaDdxMv1E&feature=youtu.be&t=39, http://www.thekitchn.com/the-best-way-to-freeze-pesto-is-not-what-you-think-234486, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFCaDdxMv1E&feature=youtu.be&t=46, https://www.doesitgobad.com/does-pesto-go-bad/, https://ohsweetbasil.com/classic-pesto-recipe-and-how-to-store-pesto/, http://shelflifeadvice.com/content/pesto-ingredients-uses-shelf-life-contamination-and-more, consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/f\/f1\/Freeze-Pesto-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Freeze-Pesto-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/f\/f1\/Freeze-Pesto-Step-1.jpg\/aid9361817-v4-728px-Freeze-Pesto-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"546","licensing":"