I am growing basil in the backyard and would like to have some good ideas on what to do. I already put it in my spaghetti, as well as other past dishes, but what I would really like is ways to prepare it raw. This weekend I plan to do the tomatoes + basil + mozzarella + vinagrette dressing, but I don’t really know how else.
Suggestions?
I sometimes use it like lettuce on sandwiches - roast beef & basil go especially well together.
Also good on salads, or in vinegarettes.
I’m assuming you make pesto, right? That can go on sandwiches, in pasta salads, etc.
I’ve heard of Basil Lemonade, too - just make lemonade and add fresh basil. Heck, it’s good just in ice water, too, maybe along with a cucumber slice or two.
And there’s always this. 
You can make pesto. Yummy, yummy pesto. And then you can make more pesto and freeze it so you have lovely homemade pesto in the dark days of winter without trying to buy 2 cups worth of basil in those little three sprigs for $3 packets at the store.
Or you can make your own tomato sauce to eat fresh or can or freeze.
Or you can…well I’m sure you can do lots of things, but we mostly make pesto and tomato sauce.
The words Fresh and Basil = Fawlty Towers at least to me 
Yeah, me too. 
We do make pesto, I forgot to include that. I’ll be making some this weekend, I think.
I have had Pho (Vietnamese soup?) that was full of fresh basil. Also basil as a primary salad ingredient. Mmmmm.
It definitely goes well in a lot of Vietnamese and Thai food. I had an incredible smoked salmon summer roll with raw, fresh basil once.
Bruschettatopped with tomatoesand basil, maybe some prosciutto. (recipes in links)
I forgot to mention - eggs. Scrambled eggs & fresh basil = yum.
Oh, YUM! I love eggs.
We don’t eat any Vietnamese food at all - just not a favorite I guess.
Bruschetta’s a good idea.
I grow basil primarily for one type of Thai dish: basil chicken/pork/beef/shrimp/scallops/other protein. The traditional dish is made with holy basil (gaprao), which has a menthol/camphor-like quality to it, but it’s quite delicious with sweet Thai basil (bai horapa), cinnamon basil, Greek basil, even Italian basil. Basically, stir fry a paste of garlic, shallots, and hot peppers (for one pound of meat, I use about 5 cloves garlic, 3-4 shallots, and 4-6 Thai chiles, pounded in a mortar) for one minute over very high heat on a wok. Keep it moving, don’t let it burn. Add your protein (I normally use chicken thigh I’ve minced into a nearly ground texture using a cleaver). Fry until cooked through. (You can also add some green beans at this point.) Add 1/3 cup fish sauce and 1/3 cup oyster sauce. Mix thoroughly. Add 1 cup of lightly packed basil leaves. Cook until wilted (about a minute more). Serve over rice or noodles.
edit: I forgot, my (and many Thais) favorite treat is to serve this with a fried egg on top.
I could eat this every day for the rest of my life and not get sick of it.
I stuff the leaves in bottles, throw in some cheap basalmic vinegar and use it for salad dressing. The aroma is to die for after awhile. I use nicer bottles (sambuka ones look nice) and give the stuff away as “gifts”.
If you’re too lazy to make pesto, you can just chop the basil up finely and then toss with pasta, grated Parmesan and toasted pine nuts. All the flavour of pesto, but none of the work. 
If you’re feeling adventurous, there’s always orange-basil ice cream(no really, as weird as the combination sounds, it’s actually downright heavenly… like Tiger Tail ice cream for grownups).
If you make a frozen pizza, it benefits enormously by being sprinkled with chopped fresh basil.
Here’s something so good we could make entire meals of it:
Garlic/cheese/basil bread
Mince a clove or two of garlic, chop a small handful of fresh basil, and mix both with 1/4 cup of soft butter. Split a French baguette lengthwise, and shmear the butter mixture over the cut surfaces. Sprinkle the buttered sides generously with fresh grated parmigiano reggiano. Slide the bread under a broiler, cheese-side up, until the cheese is melty and the edges of the bread are golden brown.
Basil sorbet. Completely delicious, and one of the most totally refreshing things in the world, great as a little “between courses” palate cleanser. And if you make it for a dinner party, your guests can provide you with hours (well, minutes) of entertainment as they ineptly try to guess what it is. It tastes divine, it just doesn’t really taste as you would expect of basil. It also makes a fine pre-breakfast if you’re hungover - very delicate, very thirst quenching. Also good for a sore throat.
^^Thank you! I will be trying this for a small dinner party Monday.
Lime-Basil Sorbet
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cup (approximately 6 limes) fresh lime juice
18 to 20 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
Sprig of fresh basil for each serving as a garnish
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and water. Stir until mixture comes to a boil; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat.
In a food processor or blender, puree lime juice, sugar syrup, and chopped basil leaves.
Ice Cream Maker - Transfer mixture to ice cream maker, process according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Freezer Method - Pour into container, cover, and place mixture in the freezer. When it is semi-solid, mash it up with a fork and refreeze again. When frozen, place in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Cover and refreeze until serving time. When ready to serve, use a melon baller and place 3 scoops in a stemmed glass. Garnish with a sprig of fresh basil and serve.
NOTE: Can be prepared 3 days in advance. Cover and keep frozen.
You can burn a little bit, and the smell will make people think you’re smoking dope. Perfect for when you want to meet those hippy neighbors…
Bacon, basil and tomato sandwiches.
You can use basil on anything vaguely italian that contains tomatoes, as long as you add it as late as possible. Also works on creamy sauces and cheese. Sandwitches and salads work well too.
White beans (Cannellini or similar) and tomato stew is amazing with some fresh basil!
And if you have any basil left, don’t let it go to waste: as other have said, making pesto is easy and if you freeze it in an ice cube tray, you’ll have quick portions of pesto that will last for a couple of months. Just thaw and mix with fresh pasta, or put some in your tomato/cream sauce.
Make pasta sauce and freeze whatever you don’t use right away. Lasts a long time and tastes great.
Also:
Basil Sauce
1 cup dry white wine
2 small cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1-1/2 cups lightly packed basil leaves
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
freshly ground white pepper to taste
2/3 cup unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
In a medium nonreactive saucepan, combine the wine and garlic; bring to a simmer and reduce by half. Add the stock and return to a simmer. Reduce to two-thirds of the original volume, (about 1-1/3 cups should remain). Add the cream and return to a simmer, them remove from the heat and set aside to cool, uncovered.
Bring a medium saucepan full of water to a boil. Add the basil and blanch for 2 minutes. Drain the leaves and as soon as they are cool enough to handle, squeeze out as much water as you can. Combine the blanched basil with the milk in a food processor or blender (this will stabilize the color). Blend, and add more milk if needed to make the mixture move easily. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the container to make sure everything gets mixed well. When the mixture is bright green and the basil is completely pureed, gradually add the cream mixture with the motor running. Add the salt and white pepper and strain the sauce into a clean pan. If you are going to use the sauce right away, move to the next step. If not, cover and refrigerate the mixture at this point until you are ready to use it.
To complete the sauce, bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat. Stir in half the butter and continue to stir until all the pieces have melted and been mixed in. Immediately remove from the heat and whisk in the remaining butter, whisking until all of the butter has melted and the sauce is emulsified. Taste, adjust the seasonings if necessary, and use immediately.