Preserve pesto? Yes, that works quite wonderfully. If something remains, the question of shelf life arises. You can find the answers here!
There is nothing better on pasta than a delicious pesto. Whether from dried tomatoes, basil, beet or wild garlic is all the same. But what can you do if you have prepared too much? Can you preserve pesto?
If, yes: what methods are there so that pesto does not go bad? And which option is best?
Let's take a look at this in detail.
This is how you can preserve your pesto.
Table of contents
Whether you buy it or make it yourself, finding the perfect amount of pesto is like pasta: There's just always too much. In most cases, something is left over.
Just put it aside or put it in the fridge? Then your pasta sauce will soon start to mold.
The pesto is no longer edible and ends up in the trash. But it didn't have to be.
But what can you do with excess pesto? You can preserve pesto. How, I'll tell you now!
Try this beet pesto with pistachios!
Why pesto will keep longer if you refrigerate it
The jar is open, now the clock starts ticking. Especially homemade pestos tend to go bad quickly. No wonder, they do not contain artificial additives.
Basically, you can preserve pesto if you refrigerate it. At least for a few days it stays fresh. If you want to use it up in the next few days, then put it in the refrigerator with the lid closed.
Mold forms much faster at room temperature. On warm summer days, your pesto can therefore be inedible within 3 days.
Mold is difficult to grow at low temperatures. But this does not completely solve the problem, because it will also start to mold, just a little later. Depending on the pesto, it takes 7 to 14 days. With store-bought sauces often even 3 weeks.
The tinfoil trick
You can enjoy the opened pesto longer if you wrap it the jar with aluminum foil. This trick buzzes through many forums, whether it really works, I can not tell you.
The idea behind it is that you can preserve pesto, because no harmful light comes to it. However, if it is in the refrigerator, it is also dark. Whether it works, you can only test yourself.
Mmmhh delicious: chard pesto with pumpkin seeds!
How to preserve pesto with oil
Olive oil is a great way to preserve your pesto. It's usually already in the recipe anyway, so a little more won't hurt.
In this method, you seal the pesto with oil.
Here's how
- Smooth the surface of the sauce with a spoon or knife.
- Now carefully pour oil onto the pesto. The best way is to hold a spoon directly on the surface and slowly cover it.
- Pour at least 1 cm of olive oil on the pesto.
- The sauce is now cut off from the air and other environmental influences.
- Chill the pesto.
This way you can preserve your pesto for about 4 weeks. With homemade pesto, however, you need to look very carefully before use. Because you have not used any preservatives here, it can go bad faster.
So best to look very carefully before you eat the pesto.
What to look for when freezing pesto
Pesto will keep much longer than in the refrigerator if you freeze it. If you have a freezer, you should take advantage of it.
The easiest way to do this is to portion the pesto before you freeze it. I use ice cube molds for this. When I'm hungry, I thaw two ice cubes and I'm done.
If you want to preserve pesto and freeze it, you don't have to worry about the flavor. It remains 1:1. Also the color of the pesto remains the same.
For this method, you use the pesto just as it is. You do not need to add oil.
What I do, however, is put plastic wrap over the ice cube trays so it doesn't all taste like pesto.
If you have a space problem, you can take the frozen ice cubes out of the mold and put them in a bag. This way you are more flexible when storing them.
How about a green asparagus pesto?
How to boil down pesto
No freezer? No problem either. You can boil down pesto. But only if you make it yourself. Dairy products can't be boiled down at home, because you can't get the temperature right.
If you make a pesto yourself and want to boil it down, then leave out the Parmesan and add it later directly at the meal. Nuts also reduce the shelf life enormously. This is due to the many fats that become rancid after time.
By the way, boiling down the sauce is a great idea if you like to give DIY gifts. Everyone is happy about a homemade pasta sauce.
What you need
- Pesto
- Sterile jars with lids
- A large pot
- A kitchen towel
Here's how
- Fill the pesto into the sterile jars. Leave 2 cm free at the top, this is important so that the jars do not burst when boiling down.
- Fill a pot with cold water and place a kitchen towel in the pot to prevent the jars from being damaged during cooking.
- Put the jars in the pot. The water should cover them 3/4.
- Let the water come to a boil. The boiling down time starts when the water is bubbling. The pesto is now boiled down for 30 minutes.
- After the boiling time, take the jars out of the water and let them cool. Put them not on the head.
Now store the pesto at room temperature - important: it must be placed in the dark. The best place is a storage cabinet or a cellar! It now lasts for a year.
Preserved pesto can change its color. You can prevent this by adding lemon juice to the recipe before boiling down.
Our conclusion
If you want to preserve pesto, you can cover it with oil, freeze it, or boil it down. Which method is best depends on how long you want to store the pasta sauce. Because nuts and oil can go rancid, I lean more toward freezing than canning. But just give it a try. And enjoy it!
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