4 hours Ago By Nicola Roy
Pesto is an absolute staple in many people's kitchens , as its deep and nutty flavour is an instant way to make any bland or boring meal taste more interesting. Made from pine nuts, basil, olive oil, parmesan and garlic, the simple yet delicious combination of ingredients can be added to pasta, eggs, salad, sandwiches and much more. Whether you've bought a ready-made jar from the supermarket or whipped up your own batch at home, it's always handy to have in the fridge.
But once you have cracked it open, the race is on to finish the jar before it starts to go mouldy. Due to the fresh ingredients, it's often not very long before this happens - but one handy storage tip can prolong its lifespan for months. Typically, a jar of supermarket pesto will usually last around five days in the fridge once opened.
But if you have made a massive batch of pesto but don't plan on using it all right away - or if you don't think you'll manage to use an entire jar of the shop-bought stuff - then you'll want to know about this nifty trick. It can preserve pesto for up to six months, and it means you'll always have a portion of the ingredient handy when you need to use it in a meal. Experts at The Kitchn say you can freeze your pesto to make it last as long as possible, and by using an ice cube tray to do this, it's simple to grab out of the freezer.
This method works particularly well if you're planning on making a batch of pasta with pesto, or adding some to meat or fish dishes. To do this, simply spoon the pesto into a clean ice cube tray and add a small amount of olive oil on top of each cube. Then, just freeze for a couple of hours or overnight until it's completely solid.
Take the cubes out and add them to a plastic sandwich bag, labelled with the contents and date, and keep in the freezer. The experts say that in general, you can freeze homemade basil pesto for up to six months. However, this might depend based on the conditions of your freezer, or if you've made or bought a different kind of pesto.
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