what to do with basil flowers: infuse olive oil

Here’s what to do with basil flowers.

First thing to know: basil flowers are edible and they taste like the leaves.

I know I must trim my basil, so it will grow stronger and give me lots of lovely perfumed leaves.

Last time I did trim it, I came back to the kitchen wondering what to do with these beautiful purple basil flowers (I found purple basil lately, and as soon as I saw it, I knew we belonged together).

I wasn’t sure what to do with them. After a few days, I was still looking at them, wondering if it was time to throw them away…

only…

everyone, these days, is talking of minimizing waste, edible flowers and plant based everything,

plus…

they were so nice and fragrant!

Well, this was the short story of how I got to the idea of using basil flowers to infuse my olive oil.

And here’s how you can do the same (even with no flowers but cute little leaves):

• Place the basil flowers in a glass bottle. You can add some leaves as well. {I used 1 flower and about 3 small leaves for a small jar}
• Fill the bottle with warm extra-virgin olive oil*.
• Let sit a few days.
• Use it on your summer salads**.

more infused olive oils

I have two more posts, that you might find useful:

• the guide to infusing olive oil (and some basic recipes)
• and 4 more, tasty and delicious, infused olive oil recipes, including my favorite Summer oil: the limoncello olive oil 🙂

*Don’t let the olive oil boil, heat it 30-50 seconds, enough for the herbs to release their scent.

** The day after you will have a good aroma, but the more you wait (up to 6 months), the more intense flavors and aromas will be.

enjoy your basil flowers infused oil

Claudia