Andi's Italian Herb Seasoning Blend
Nutritional Info
- Servings Per Recipe: 9
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories: 9.3
- Total Fat: 0.3 g
- Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
- Sodium: 1.1 mg
- Total Carbs: 2.0 g
- Dietary Fiber: 1.3 g
- Protein: 0.3 g
View full nutritional breakdown of Andi's Italian Herb Seasoning Blend calories by ingredient
Introduction
My favorite Italian herb blend is an aromatic, peppery blend of seven dried herbs. I toss it on frozen pizzas, on english muffin pizzas, in ground beef (for spaghetti, stromboli, and in my two meat spicey game day cheese dip (with a little black pepper and salt it makes ground beef taste like sausage)), and I use it to round out the flavors in homemade tomato sauces.Unfortunately, this beloved go-to blend costs me a pretty penny, and I was looking for a way to make my own similar mix for less 'cha-ching'. I started with recipes found online calling for equal proportions of each herb, then adjusted by smell using the order of ingredients on the label of my favorite store bought blend as a guide (assuming ingredients on label were listed first by volume then in alphabetical order). Using this methodology any ingredients in alphabetical order may or may not be of equal proportions to the prior ingredient but anything out of alphabetical order was clearly in a different class. By this system I came up with the following grouping:
Tier 1 = oregano
Tier 2 = marjoram, savory, thyme
Tier 3 = basil, rosemary, sage
It may not be precise but i think it's pretty darned close. You are welcome to adjust ingredients to your own taste and share what you've come up with in 'comments'. :)
I will warn, "savory" was difficult for me to find, 'Morton & Bassett' was the only company who sold savory at my local grocer and funny thing-- it cost me $8 for a bottle while all other herbs I was able to buy in bulk for some $1 for every 4oz . (Fortunately a single bottle of savory should make several batches of this herb blend, and should last a good while). My favorite Italian herb blend is an aromatic, peppery blend of seven dried herbs. I toss it on frozen pizzas, on english muffin pizzas, in ground beef (for spaghetti, stromboli, and in my two meat spicey game day cheese dip (with a little black pepper and salt it makes ground beef taste like sausage)), and I use it to round out the flavors in homemade tomato sauces.
Unfortunately, this beloved go-to blend costs me a pretty penny, and I was looking for a way to make my own similar mix for less 'cha-ching'. I started with recipes found online calling for equal proportions of each herb, then adjusted by smell using the order of ingredients on the label of my favorite store bought blend as a guide (assuming ingredients on label were listed first by volume then in alphabetical order). Using this methodology any ingredients in alphabetical order may or may not be of equal proportions to the prior ingredient but anything out of alphabetical order was clearly in a different class. By this system I came up with the following grouping:
Tier 1 = oregano
Tier 2 = marjoram, savory, thyme
Tier 3 = basil, rosemary, sage
It may not be precise but i think it's pretty darned close. You are welcome to adjust ingredients to your own taste and share what you've come up with in 'comments'. :)
I will warn, "savory" was difficult for me to find, 'Morton & Bassett' was the only company who sold savory at my local grocer and funny thing-- it cost me $8 for a bottle while all other herbs I was able to buy in bulk for some $1 for every 4oz . (Fortunately a single bottle of savory should make several batches of this herb blend, and should last a good while).
Number of Servings: 9
Ingredients
-
I started with 1TBsp of each (1TBsp=3tsp) then adjusted this blend a fraction of a teaspoon at a time.
Oregano, dried- 2 TBsp (I used greek oregano)
Marjoram, dried- 1 TBsp + 1 tsp
Savory, dried- 1 TBsp + 1 tsp
Thyme, dried- 1 TBsp + 1 tsp
Basil, dried- 1 TBsp + .5 tsp
Rosemary, dried- 1 TBsp
Sage, dried- 1 TBsp
Tips
Use this blend to up the flavor ante of tomato sauces, pizzas, and with a little salt and black pepper turn ground beef into something more like sausage in flavor.
Directions
Mix herbs together, by stirring, shaking, or crushing with mortar and pestle as desired.
Serving Size: Makes a little more than a half cup
Serving Size: Makes a little more than a half cup