Preserving Pesto

[N & K Grant]

I was wondering if anyone has preserved pesto without freezing it. We live off the grid, and only have a tiny freezer (part of the frig) so we can or dry our food. I would really love to be able to put up some pesto, but not sure how!

[Maxine Walker]

After making your pesto, put in a jar and put on a thin layer of olive oil and refrigerate. Main thing is to keep the air out so it doesn't turn black. Haven't tested how long this will keep - I used mine within a week but olive oil is a good preservative and I would think it would keep a long time. Wonder if it would come out edible if you canned it this way?

[susan rigali]

Adding Salt and small amount of an acid (lemon, vinegar,wine, citric acid) will improve preservation. When doing this only prepare with basil, garlic, and olive oil. Add cheese and pine nuts when ready to serve. . Another way to have year round is to dry your basil. When you are ready to make pesto reconstitute with hot water just to paste consistency add garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, wine, and cheese.

[N & K Grant]

Maxine, Thanks for the idea. I have wondered about canning it like that, but not sure what the oilve oil would do. I may just have to try it and see what happens.
Nancy

[Robert Durkin]

Yes, I am wondering myself as I have a vacuum sealing machine, and I wonder if one can preserve pesto in this fashion, by vacuum sealing it in a plastic bag and putting it up on a cool dark shelf.

Robert in Texas

[Roxanne DuBris]

Well, I certainly hope I am not too late in finding this site & joining this forum to perhaps save Robert and/or his family & friends from possible botulism poisoning!
If you try to preserve pesto in this way, that is what may well happen. Please see http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/FOODNUT/09340.html
or http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/concen/specif/herbsoile.shtml
or any of countless other sites warning about this.

I make and preserve lots of pesto each year by the following method: using a chef's knife or an ulu, I first chop my basil rather fine as it seems to blend up in the blender quicker. (I don't have a food processor; maybe they work better but I am content with less gadgets.) I don't like to over-process it or cause the motor to get too hat, which can happen when trying to chop a blender full of leaves! I whirl basil & olive oil (enough oil to make it blend) and then freeze it either in ice cube trays (and when frozen, popping out the cubes & vacuum-packing them & storing in the freezer) OR by dropping big globs onto a cookie sheet lined with with parchment paper, covering that with another piece of parchment, then gently flattening the pesto into discs. I slip the whole thing into a 2-gallon zip bag & freeze until solid, then pop the discs off the paper & into a wide-mouth canning jar. (Work quickly--the oil softens fast!) THEN I use the jar sealer vacuum attachment to seal the jar. It keeps the pesto fresh & prevents freezer burn. I add pine nuts & grated Paremsan only when I am ready to use the pesto in my dish.
To make the discs easier to pop apart (since if the oil thaws & then refreezes the discs will stick together), sometimes I put small squares of waxed paper or deli paper between the discs (2 papers btwn each disc--using only one does not work). Prepare these before taking your tray of discs out of the freezer &, as I said, work fast for less mess. :-)

[Martha Hill]

Not sure if this would work but it might !! And it would be safe as far as I know !! If you have a pressure canner make your pesto and fill a pint canning jar halfway with the pesto/olive oil add water to fill rest of the way !! Then can in a pressure canner !! After the jars are removed and allowed to sit and cool to seal, the pesto and water should separate with the pesto on bottom !! When ready to use you might be able to simply pour off the water from the top !! It probably would help to chill the jar before pouring off the water !! Since meats can be canned this way I see no reason why pesto can`t be done as well !! I would use the canning time for meats as well, as listed in your canning book !!

[Roxanne DuBris]

Oh, YUCK!
I cannot imagone pressure-canning pesto!! I know jarred pesto is available commercially but I do not know how it is done. Basil is a very delicate herb. Here are my objections:
1. Everyone knows how canning things like green beans, peas, or corn (for example) yields a completely different (and, to me, poorer quality) product than freezing.
2. According to my 2009 Ball Blue Book, meat is canned at 1 hour 15 min per pint, while a veggie such as green beans needs but 20 minutes a pint. BIG difference!
3. Oil is lighter than water, so I expect that is what would "float" to the top after standing...

All in all I do not think this suggestion for pressure canning is a good idea at all. I would not chance wasting basil or electricity in this way.

[Martha Hill]

Well, since these people are living off-grid and have only the freezer with their refrigerator, the original question was ,,is there a way to preserve pesto without freezing ?? Whether it floats or settles with the addition of the basil is irrelevant !! The main thing is that it can be separated !! And oil and water heat at a different rate in a pressure canner !! The addition of the oil is the reason for the longer canning time since it would be a cold pack method !! I would rather use the longer canning time than risk a case of botulism !!

[Marian Worley]

I can my pesto always. Also I hang basil upside down and dry it and then use as needed. While nothing ever beats any food straight from the fields, preserving is an excellent way to feed your family healthy and nutriitious foods that YOU KNOW THE ORIGIN OF. Which is paramount in the concept of eating local and seasonal.
I do not use a pressure canner, just make the pesto, seal in hot jars and use the water bath method. been doing that for 20 years. The trick to a good seal is not to overfuill the jars, and to make sure you have a clean seal and new lids. Occasionally a jar will not seal, so refrigerate that, or freeze and use it up.
As for the flavor of canned vs frozen, we all do what we have to do to have some products year round for our out od growing season needs. Freeze, dry, can.... do it all.

[Marian Worley]

Hey, Roxanne,
Just curious, are you a chef?

[Roxanne DuBris]

No--LOL--not a chef! Just enjoy cooking, canning, gardening...EATING!

[Marian Worley]

Well you seem to know a lot and have some skills. I am a chef and have a catering business and always like to hear from others who cook, can, preserve, garden,