Basil Oil
A delicious, four-ingredient basil oil to enhance your enjoyment of a summer bounty of fresh basil! It takes just about 10 minutes to mix it up and you can enjoy it with nearly any dish you can imagine. I just love dunking some of my crusty sourdough bread in it, but it's wonderful on salads and grilled veggies or stirred into pasta.
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 120kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves (tightly packed)
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice (1 lemon approx)
- ½ to 1 teaspoon ground black pepper (or use red pepper flakes)
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Boil water in a saucepan. Add the basil leaves and blanch 30 seconds.
- Quickly remove the basil leaves to an ice bath--a bowl of ice-cold water.
- Pat the basil leaves thoroughly dry using paper towels.
- Place the basil in a blender with the extra virgin olive oil, salt, lemon juice and ground black pepper. Blend until smooth.
- You can serve the basil oil as is, or put it through a cheesecloth-lined strainer to get a clear green oil.
Notes
- Serving size is 1 tablespoon. Recipe makes approximately a cup of basil oil (unstrained). After straining volume will be slightly reduced.
- Basil oil, like most herb oils, has a very short shelf life because of botulism concerns. Use up the oil the same day or refrigerate and enjoy within 2-3 days.
- Make sure the basil is as dry as possible before blending.
- Drizzle the basil oil over pasta, grilled or steamed veggies, salads and vegan steaks, or use it to dunk crusty bread.
Nutrition
Calories: 120kcal | Carbohydrates: 0.3g | Protein: 0.1g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Sodium: 146mg | Potassium: 8mg | Fiber: 0.05g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 80IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 0.1mg