Kitchen hack
This will keep your basil fresh for a long time!
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As soon as you buy it, basil from the supermarket quickly sags. How you can enjoy aromatic green for longer – and what you can do with it.
It is the dream of every hobby cook: harvesting fresh basil directly from the windowsill and using it to refine pasta dishes. In reality, unfortunately, it often looks like the basil pots from the discounter sadly sag after a few days.
With little effort, you can do a lot to ensure that the aromatic royal herb survives longer:
1. Give lots of light and warmth
The basil comes out warm, sunny regions – and that's how it should be. The plant has no place in the darkest corner of your kitchen. It longs for light and warmth. It is best to put it inside on the windowsill. Or even better in summer: outside. The basil is in its element on the balcony, on the windowsill or on the terrace – and it grows and thrives. Here are tips for indoor gardening.
2. Provide sufficient space
When it comes to plants from the discounter, there are limits to how they can grow and thrive, because the shoots are often too narrow. Far too much green in far too little space. Therefore: the Split the herb pot into four equal parts and place them next to each other in a larger balcony pot so that the roots can spread and the herb can grow.
3. Harvest regularly
Basil must be harvested regularly. If you don't, it will start to bloom under optimal conditions (see 1 and 2). And as nice as it looks: that's the last thing you want! Because when the bloom is over, the basil dies.
By the way: the flowers are not harmful. While other herbs become inedible when they bloom, you can still eat the basil and even add it to oils and soups. The leaves then taste a little bitter – a problem that can be solved by cooking. The heat dissolves the bitter substances and the natural aroma returns.
When harvesting, be careful not to just pluck individual leaves. Instead, prefer Cut off complete shoot tips cleanly, ideally very close above the small leaf shoots, as these then sprout again and make the basil fuller and bushier.
4. Consume as soon as possible
Even if you do everything right, you have to face the fact that the basil from the discounter won't last forever. Such a plant will never accompany you for years.
Therefore: Consume the basil quickly or make the aromatic leaves more durable. We have many great basil recipes for this. The classic, homemade basil pesto, is just one of many great ideas. Alternatively, you can of course also freeze basil!
Extra: Creatively preserve basil
Freshly harvested leaves can become loose after washing wrapped in cling film or in a damp kitchen towel and stored for 3 to 4 days. Or you wash them off, let them dry well for about half an hour and then wrap them in one Freezer bags in the freezer.
A second way to preserve it is to make Oils and vinegar essences with basil. To do this, the freshly harvested basil must first be washed. Then cut off the petioles neatly. Half fill a bottle or disposable glass with white wine vinegar or olive oil, add garlic and two handfuls of basil. Fill the rest of the container with the oil or vinegar and let stand tightly closed for 8 to 10 days. That goes perfectly with our ravioli with asparagus and basil oil, for example.
Another nice idea: Make basil salt yourself. To do this, chop the basil leaves and mix them with a good pinch of sea salt. Then both come together on a baking sheet and are baked at 50 degrees (and turned regularly) until it is nicely roasted. The aroma will blow your mind!