How is basil prepared for pesto most efficiently?
I'm typing this with a case of "pesto-finger" - the stubborn stains that take a few days to fully wash off my thumb and fingertips from hours of picking basil leaves (mostly after harvesting all the remaining basil in the face of a frost.) I always wonder (for a few days a year while I'm doing it) how basil is prepared (before the grinding in a pestle or food processor) both "traditionally" and/or in a large-scale or even commercial operation to make pesto, as I'm tediously picking leaves off of the stems in my annual home production. Is there a better way than tedious hand-picking?
My personal pesto has wandered fairly far from "pesto Genovese" but that really has no impact on this question, as it's still mostly basil.
Looking carefully at the picture Lars provides, it would appear (upon examining the picture at full scale) that the basil is being harvested fairly young (no flowers) and simply being cut off (you can see a sickle-bar type cutter at the base of the harvester) and pulled up (unfortunately the picture appears to be posed, with the harvester stopped and not actually harvesting, based on nothing on the belts nor coming out the chute.) This actually makes some sense - the stems at that point would be fairly tender and might not be objectionable when ground up. While it will take some discipline to finish off basil that could grow more (after years of trying to give it as long as possible and getting it right before frost), I'll have to try some this way next year. I might also try a side-by side taste comparison with some (of the same age) hand-picked (or fist-stripped) from the stems and processed, to see if there's any detriment form the young stems.
Best Answer
The picture shows a basil harvester. The stems remain in the ground, as you can see on the right; those stems that get harvested are processed together with the leaves.
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Should basil be blanched before making pesto?
You need to blanch the basil for only five seconds, and you don't want to blanch it for more than 10. Doing this leaches out a wee bit of the basil's vivid flavor, but not enough to change that of the pesto significantly.How do you get enough basil for pesto?
She usually recommends leaving at least three leaves, but in my case, five. After harvesting, treat basil like a cut flower; leave it in a glass of water in a cool spot in your kitchen and use it as you need it.Should basil be dry when making pesto?
Only choose the healthiest leaves to use for making basil pesto, and toss out any that are yellow or brown. After they're removed from the stem, rinse them several times to wash off any bugs or dirt. Don't allow them to soak in water though, and be sure to dry them right away so they don't turn brown.How do you keep basil from turning brown in pesto?
Cap your pesto with a generous layer of olive oil According to Allrecipes, the layer of fat will prevent any air from reaching the torn basil leaves, which won't oxidize and will therefore maintain their appealing green hue.How to Make FRESH BASIL PESTO Like an Italian
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Answer 2
I mostly run my clenched fingers down the stem to break off leaves, rather than picking individually. It's much faster. The top bits with the little leaves/flowers do require a bit of hand plucking though.
If I were a commercial scale pesto producer, I think I'd probably pull the cut off plants bottom end first through a 18mm hole in a steel plate. That should strip most leaves. -That 18mm number is a guess, but I think somewhere near right. Might use two holes, a big one and a smaller one so as to get better recovery.
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