When I finally got my Pampered Chef herb freezing trays, I immediately knew what I was going to use them for first: Basil, Garlic and Parmesan Butter. My basil plants have been doing great this year, and while I plan on making some of Kel’s pesto later this summer, I really wanted to make some flavored butter to use later on pasta and bread and to sauté veggies and other things in.

This recipe is basic — just five ingredients to create one of the best spreads you’ve ever tasted! If you don’t have a garden, you can find fresh basil at most farmer’s markets and some grocery stores – the key is to get it fresh. I used the leaves from approximately 12-15 stems of basil in this recipe. Also, make sure you are using fresh garlic and parmesan as well – none of that canned or jarred stuff!

Ice cube trays will work if you don’t have the PC freezing trays. However, I love the PC trays because whatever you freeze easily pops out of the silicone cups; they come with covers that you can date with a dry-erase marker; your food won’t pick up any other freezer smells; and they are dishwasher safe to boot!

I filled up three PC freezing trays to make one pound of this sinfully awesome butter. I’m not sure how many ice cube trays it would take, but imagine just one standard-size should be enough.

Ingredients (makes 1 pound)

• 1 lb. unsalted butter (room temperature)
• ½ cup fresh basil leaves, chopped fine (I used a food processor for this)
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed
• 3 tablespoons fresh parmesan cheese, finely grated
• Sea salt to taste

Preparation

Place the butter in a mixing bowl and add the basil, garlic, parmesan cheese and salt.

Blend with an electric mixer until all of the ingredients are mixed thoroughly.

Spoon the butter into your Pampered Chef herb freezing trays or an ice cube tray.

You can freeze these for up to three months, but I seriously doubt they’ll be around that long. Simply pop these out as needed, or, if you are ready to use your trays for something else, pop all of them out and place in a dated Ziploc bag.

So far, I have used this awesome butter mixture as a sauce for angel hair pasta as well as to sauté some frozen cheese pierogis in, which really jazzes up an already easy-to-make dish.

This butter, once softened, is also excellent to spread on hoagie rolls to make some of the best garlic bread ever!

Bon appétit!

Eat, drink and be merry!

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