Culinary Basil Oil

To create flavorful culinary basil oil using the blanching and blending method, first, blanch fresh basil leaves in boiling water for a few seconds to preserve their vibrant color. Then, blend the blanched basil leaves with high-quality olive oil until you achieve a fragrant and versatile basil-infused oil perfect for drizzling over salads or pasta dishes.

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Makes:

320 ml

Time to Prepare:

10 min

Time to cook or cure:

20 min (hanging)

Skill:

Extraction

Serves:

320ml

Time to Prepare:

10 min

Time to cook or cure:

20 min (hanging)

Skills:

Extraction

Ingredients

400 g basil
300 ml extra virgin olive oil
salt
ice cubes (optional)

Tools

pot for blanching
tongs
bowl
2 clean teacloths
high speed blender
sieve
ice cube trays

Useful guidelines

Storage:

The oil will keep up to a year in the freezer. Make sure to cover the ice cube tray to prevent the oil from soaking up the freezer smell. In the fridge you can keep it up to a week.

Use:

The bright green basil oil can be used for decoration for example on plates, soups or salads. Just add a little drizzle to finish your dish.

Pro tip:

In case you did end up with some water inside your basil oil you can separate the two liquids by putting them in the freezer. Once they split the water will freeze in bottom of your container and you can just scoop up the oil which will be the top layer.
To bring out the fresh flavor of the basil even more you can use a more blend oil such as sunflower oil.

Directions

Simply make a delicious culinary basil oil by following these steps:

Step 1: Bring a pot with heavily salted water to boil. Put a bowl with very cold water ready next to your stove. You can add some ice cubes to make sure the water is really cold.

Step 2: Once the water is boiling, blanch your basil in batches for 15-30 seconds each.

Step 3: Use the tongs to take out the basil and put it in the ice-cold water immediately.

Step 4: Drain the blanched basil leaves and dry them very thoroughly with a clean teacloth. Make sure to get rid of any access water to avoid water inside your basil oil later.

Step 5: Blend the basil together with the olive oil in a high-speed blender.

Step 6: Set up a bowl with a sieve on top and lay another clean and dry teacloth inside the sieve. Pour the basil and olive oil mix into the cloth and set it aside to let all the oil drain.
Don’t try to speed up that process as this will only lead to water inside your oil.

Step 7: Once all the oil has drained you can either pour the fresh basil oil into a jar and keep it in the fridge or you fill up the ice cube trays and freeze it. This way the oil will store up to a year and you can take out individual little cubes to use on your dishes.