Basil 101: Growing Tips + 28 Recipes

You’ve made caprese salad and pesto, but what next? Get the most out of basil season with these 28 basil recipes + my best growing tips!

How to Use Basil

As I said above, basil is cold-sensitive, so pick it right before you want to use it. Otherwise, store stalks at room temperature in a glass of water. You can also freeze it for longer storage – read more about freezing herbs on page 94 of Love & Lemons Every Day.

When you’re ready to use it, your options are endless. Of course, if you’re looking for basil recipes, pesto has to be your #1. Stir it into pasta, slather it on sandwiches or toast, top it onto eggs, drizzle it over salads, or dollop it onto grilled veggies. Rich, nutty, and bright, it automatically kicks any dish up a notch.

Otherwise, basil goes especially well with Asian or Italian flavors, so toss it into a stir fry or make a classic caprese salad. Here are some other everyday ways to use it:

• Top whole leaves onto pizza.
• Finish pasta with whole or thinly sliced leaves.
• Blend it into sauces.
• Puree it into soups.
• Chop it up to add to a salad.
• Use it to garnish avocado toast.
• Turn it into an ice cream topping! Jazz up vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries, basil, and a balsamic reduction.

Want more ideas? Below are a few of my favorite basil recipes to get you started.

Basil Appetizer Recipes

Get any meal off to a fresh, summery start by making a basil-forward appetizer. Add it to summer rolls & blend it into a dipping sauce to go with them, puree it into a cool soup, or slide it onto simple caprese skewers.

1. Avocado Summer Rolls

2. Basil & Zucchini Soup

3. Caprese Peach Skewers

Sandwiches & Toasts

If you have a few sprigs of basil on hand that you don’t know what to do with, you can never go wrong by topping them onto avocado toast. I’ll also add whole leaves straight to sandwiches or blend them into a creamy spread to make a vibrant, hearty vegetarian sandwich filling.

4. Strawberry Basil Avocado Toast

5. Tomato, Basil & Artichoke Picnic Sandwich

6. Chickpea Pan Bagnat Sandwiches

Pasta & Grain Recipes

You couldn’t compile a list of basil recipes without including a grain and pasta section. We all love pesto pasta, but you can take nearly any pasta dish or grain bowl to the next level by adding a handful of fresh herbs. Here are just a few of my favorites.

7. Quick & Easy Pesto Pasta

8. One Pot Penne Pasta

9. Orzo with Lemon, Herbs & Summer Vegetables

10. Vegetarian Spaghetti Bolognese

11. Roasted Vegetable Pasta

12. Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

13. Creamy Pasta Pomodoro

14. Mango Ginger Rice Bowl

Pizza Basil Recipes

Fresh basil is a pizza essential! I like to blend it into pesto to dollop on generously along with the veggie toppings. I also almost always finish pizzas with a few whole leaves. Be sure to add these right before serving so that they don’t get brown and lose their flavor in the oven.

15. Summer Blackberry Pizza

16. The Best Vegan Pizza

17. Herb Garden Zucchini Pizza

Salad Recipes

Once you start adding fresh herbs to your salads, you won’t look back. They add delicious, intense, and unexpected notes to any combination of fruits & veggies. In each of the recipes below, the addition of fresh basil leaves makes the final salad really shine.

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18. Grilled Corn Salad

19. Watermelon Salad with Feta

20. Cherry Tomato Couscous Salad

21. Spicy Watermelon Tomato Salad

22. Pattypan Squash Panzanella

23. Summer Panzanella Salad

24. Summer Asian Slaw

25. Strawberry Caprese Salad

26. Easy Pasta Salad

Basil Recipes for Dessert

With its sweet, fresh flavor, basil is a wonderful unexpected addition to desserts, especially when it’s paired with summer fruits. Try stirring it into the filling of strawberry shortcake or blending it into a berry sorbet. Or keep things simple – just sprinkle it over berries with a dollop of coconut cream.

27. Strawberry Shortcake

28. Raspberry Basil Blender Sorbet, page 253, Love & Lemons Every Day

Source: https://gardencourte.com
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