freezing pesto

[noonabug]

I am new to the board and can't find out how to ask this in a thread about pesto.

has anyone frozen it for longer than three months? I would think it would keep but would love ot hear of any reasons why not to.

I may have overdone it, but my son will be happy to take some off my hands. The hands that are green! But oh, they smell wonderful. I love picking the leaves, I must have been a monkey in another lifetime and it takes me back to picking nits.

[Debralynn]

Can't answer your question, but still laughing. :D Debralynn

[Terri_A]

According to CL - Pesto will keep frozen for up to 3 months and in a refrigerator for up to 5 days. I hope that helps...and welcome to the boards!

[karen w]

I have frozen it for much longer and it has been fine. I freeze in ice cube trays and then pop them out when frozen and store in a food saver bag so all the air is sucked out. No build up of ice etc... or freezer burn. It has worked for me.

Karen

[kgraham]

I have frozen it for much longer than 3 months, too, without a problem. I usually just freeze it in ziplocks or small plastic containers (like the ones from a deli counter), but I really like the ice cube trays idea.

[charley]

Same here. Frozen for many months with no loss of flavor. A year is pushing it.

[SDMomChef]

I have frozen it for much longer and it has been fine. I freeze in ice cube trays and then pop them out when frozen and store in a food saver bag so all the air is sucked out. No build up of ice etc... or freezer burn. It has worked for me.

Karen

Ditto for me...it's stayed good for about 10 months. Love pesto! :D

[smokeandashes]

I have also frozen pesto but I like to leave the parmesan cheese out. I find that the parm gets kinda grainy if you freeze it for a long time (which can happen in my fridge, it is occasionally a black hole of forgotten foods:D )

[noonabug]

thanks everybody! I really went overboard with making pesto and am quite sick of sucking pesto flavored aor from freezer bags full of green ice cubes. But...... I believe anything worth doing is worth doing to excess and I have the thighs to prove it.

I live about ten minutes, by bike, all up hill... from the sweetest farmers market. But that is not why I have the thighs to prove my little axiom.

I love going there, and the ride home is all downhill, since I am over the hill any way it is a free ride. WHOOPEEEEEE. Any way I have been buying up their home grown basil and told my son that next year I was going to try my hand and plant some pesto plants.

Just goes to show you how much I have been into this pesto kick. I bought myself a sweet little freezer and have been going to town, I mean market.

[VALERIEA234]

Hi,
I Have 3 Large Plants Of Basil In My Garden And One Gorwing In A Pot On My Deck, As Far As I Can Tell, It Is Not Difficult To Grow.
Have Not Made Pesto Yet This Yr, But Have Been Freezing It In A Ice Cube Tray.
V.

[Vanessa]

I make large batches minus cheese. I then put them in small plastic bags (and put them in a bigger bag and label it. Never had a problem. When using it thaw then add more oil (always extra virgin then I add the freshly grated cheese. Sometimes I add a sprinkle of lime juice when using it.

[SusanMac]

I also have a ton of basil...maybe Labor Day weekend will include an afternoon of making pesto.

Thx for the tip about leaving out the cheese. I was wondering how that would taste. I refuse to freeze cheese, so the pesto had made me nervous. I'll try it this way.

Noonabug - you crack me up! Welcome to the BB (and, yes, basil is really easy to grow yourself. You'll be surprised)

[dae]

I love fresh basil and always overbuy at the farmer's market just because it smells so wonderful! When I'm not in the mood to make pesto (which I've done a lot of: cover with a layer of EVOO and enjoy for at least a year -- if it lasts that long;)), I just wash it, towel-pat it dry and toss it in freezer bags.

A few nights ago we had Garlicky Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Basil (CL April '04); I took a bag of basil leaves out of the freezer, broke them into bits while they were still frozen, then dumped them in with the rest of the ingredients -- fresh flavor in a super fast recipe. :D

[charley]

I make large batches minus cheese. I then put them in small plastic bags (and put them in a bigger bag and label it. Never had a problem. When using it thaw then add more oil (always extra virgin then I add the freshly grated cheese. Sometimes I add a sprinkle of lime juice when using it.

Why without cheese? I always add the cheese to pesto I freeze.

[Vanessa]

CharleyÑ
I leave the chesse out because thats the original recipe I had yrs ago plus it freezes better. The cheese gets grainy when thawed out. I also add a bit of lime juice and it preserves the dark grren color. I just took some to neighboors and told them they could use it or freeze it and thin out with some more extra virgin oil and add parmessan cheese. DH says when ready to eat when he adds the freshly grated Parmessan it tastes freshly made.

[charley]

Never had that problem. Parmigiano-Reggiano is by nature a grainy cheese. Freezing changes the texture of some soft cheeses like cream cheese and slicing cheeses, but Parmesan is a grating cheese.