Basil is an amazing herb. It is like sunshine in a plant, the flavor of it is beautiful and mild enough to eat the leaves tossed in a salad. It is my favorite fresh herb. I have a very large plant that keeps giving and giving, and it is more difficult to find after summer in large bunches. You can’t do a whole lot with a little plastic container that you find at the grocery store. I start craving fresh basil mid-winter after the crunchy autumn maple and oak leaves are covered by white snow, and my fresh basil has long been killed by frost. Up here in Northern Michigan that is about January.

I like to go to my local food coop to find large bunches when it’s too cold to grow it outdoors myself so I can make and freeze pesto. I also have grown it indoors in the wintertime with an Aerogarden Hydroponic System that is tabletop sized. This year, I have been making a compound butter with my fresh basil and freezing it into tablespoon sized cubes to keep the fresh basil flavors going in my kitchen long after Summer is gone.

Here is my easy and incredibly delicious recipe to add pops of flavor to vegetables, proteins like steak, eggs, and meatballs, pasta, and breads. I like to use this butter 50/50 with a drizzle of olive oil and a pat of this compounded butter over steamed vegetables. Try it with steamed Brussels sprouts! It’s delicious. For even more salty savory flavor, grate some fresh Parmesan over them too. Top a steak cooked on a Blackstone grill with this butter for a restaurant quality T-Bone or New York Strip. A cast iron pan stove top to oven works well also. I also like to use it for spiralized zoodles, and add it to halved baked squash fresh from the oven with a drizzle of honey. It’s excellent on beets, broccoli, carrots and potatoes. Here is my recipe:

Easy Compounded Fresh Basil Garlic Butter

2 Cups of Fresh Basil Leaves

1 Pound of high fat butter like Plugra or Kerrygold (cubed) You can use salted or unsalted.

2 Tablespoons of Garlic Infused Olive Oil

1 Teaspoon of Salt

In a food processor, add the fresh basil leaves and pulse until they are finely chopped. When the basil has been finely chopped, add in the remaining ingredients, and pulse in your food processor until it is blended and incorporated. You will have to stop the processor and scrape down the sides a couple of times. Lay out a parchment lined baking sheet and scrape your compounded basil garlic butter onto the sheet. Using an offset spatula, form the butter into a square block, and place it in the freezer overnight. The next day lay the frozen butter onto a cutting board and cut into 32 squares. Place your butter pats into a zipped freezer bag or sealed container, and keep them in the freezer. Use as needed!

Let me know how you like to use this butter. I’d also love to hear what your favorite fresh herb is and how you use it.