Basil is one of the easiest herbs to cook with and can be added to almost any food. Check out these fresh and delicious basil recipes, sourced from Italian cuisine, which bring a warm summer breeze straight from the Italian coast into your home.
Try these two methods for infusing basil into oil. First is the traditional, rural method of slowly seasoning on the windowsill (like a real Italian grandmother), then there is the fast way in a blender, during those busy weekday evenings. Basil oil is suitable for both salads and pasta, and the shelf-life for basil oil when kept in the refrigerator is almost eternal. Your pre-prepared basil oil can be used in both of these Plantui pasta recipes! Alternatively, try it in tomato sauce or add it to some lemon chicken.
Basil oil in two ways
Traditional basil oil
a bunch of basil leaves
5 dl olive oil
Place the basil leaves on the bottom of a glass jar and crush them slightly with a spoon. Pour in the olive oil, close the jar and leave it for a couple of days in the sun. Taste the oil from time to time, and when you’re happy with the taste, strain out the basil and transfer the oil to a serving container. You can add a few whole basil leaves as garnish.
Fast basil oil
a bunch of basil leaves
5 dl olive oil
1 lemon juice
Put the basil leaves in a blender and blend them until they are finely crushed. Gradually add the olive oil to the basil and increase or decrease the amount of oil to reach a suitably runny and diluted mixture. Finally, add just enough lemon juice so that the basil oil retains a beautiful shade of green.
Italian tomato-basil pasta
1 tablespoon ready basil oil
1-2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp Italian peeled tomatoes
a handful of fresh basil finely chopped
salt and pepper
pasta and parmesan for serving
Heat the basil oil in a pan and add the garlic cloves. Add a jar of peeled tomatoes and let them soften slightly on the stove over a medium heat. You can also lightly crush them so they are broken. Once the tomatoes are cooked through and simmering, add salt, pepper and fresh basil. Stir the cooked pasta into the sauce and serve with the parmesan. You can make the pasta even richer by adding spicy sausages such as chorizo, for example.
Lemon with basil chicken
1 tablespoon ready basil oil
1 packet of chicken strips
1-2 cloves of garlic
loraus white wine
1 lemon juice
1 teaspoon whipped cream
a handful of basil leaves finely chopped
pasta and parmesan for serving
Heat the basil oil in a pan and add the chicken strips. Fry the chicken until almost cooked and then add the garlic cloves. When the chicken is cooked and the garlic cloves have softened, add the white wine and let it boil. Lower the heat on the stove and add the lemon juice and whipped cream. Leave the sauce to simmer over a low heat. Finally, add the salt, pepper and basil leaves. Mix in the cooked pasta with the sauce and serve with the parmesan.
