A reliable herb with savory punch. No soup or tomato sauce is complete without it. Breadsticks without a light dusting of dried basil is tantamount to heresy.
Basil grows hardy in the summer when given plenty of sun and water. It grows profusely to the point that it can be hard to keep up with. One can only grow so many tomatoes for a caprese salad and, frankly, fresh basil pesto does get a little tiring after batch number twenty-eight.
This is why so many home gardeners dry out much of their basil in the summer. Throughout fall and winter when you want to craft pasta Bolognese, a hearty lasagna, or a family-sized meatloaf you’ll always want that fresh, slightly spicy flavor of basil to brighten up the meal.