In spring, the intense scent of wild garlic pervades parks and forests. The harvest season is very short, but by freezing your homemade wild garlic pesto, you can extend the enjoyment of the tasty wild plant to all seasons.

If the pesto is frozen in jars, they must not be too full

Shelf life depending on the recipe

For freezing, you should only use freshly prepared pesto that has not been stored before. This is how you prevent microbial contamination. The shelf life of the frozen wild garlic pesto depends on your "family recipe": Do you use Parmesan or other animal-based foods? Or do you only prepare your pesto with wild garlic, oil, salt, garlic, nuts or pine nuts and other vegan ingredients?
A purely vegetable wild garlic pesto can be stored in the freezer for up to a year. However, you have to reckon with the fact that after a few months the aroma will suffer.
Pestos with dairy products should be used up after six months at the latest. The same applies here: the longer the wild garlic pesto is stored, the less intense its taste.

Freeze in suitable containers

When choosing the right container for freezing wild garlic pesto, you have several options:

  • Freeze your pesto in used pesto jars (only two-thirds full to avoid cracking the jar during freezing).
  • Use tightly sealed plastic boxes.
  • Freeze the wild garlic pesto in freezer bags.
  • Use ice cube trays to freeze the pesto in good portions.

Freezing in ice cube trays

Since only small portions are usually required for pesto, it has proven useful to use ice cube molds for freezing. To do this, proceed as follows:

  1. Fill the wells of the ice cube tray with wild garlic pesto using teaspoons.
  2. Place the ice cube mold stable and level in the *** freezer compartment.
  3. Freeze the pesto cubes for several hours.
  4. Remove the ice cubes from the mold and transfer them to a freezer bag previously labeled with the date and content.
  5. Seal the bag tightly and place back in the freezer.

In this way, you can easily remove the required amount of wild garlic pesto from the freezer bag in cubes and leave the rest frozen.

Instructions for defrosting wild garlic pesto

Let the pesto thaw slowly in the refrigerator to prevent bacterial contamination. If you want to use the wild garlic pesto as a base for a heated sauce, you can also put the frozen cubes directly into the saucepan.

The garden journal freshness ABC

How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?

The garden journal freshness ABC as a poster:

  • as a free PDF file to print out yourself

Category:

Herbs