Fresh basil usage?

[PizzaBrewer]

OK, here's a really stupid question...

Is it better to put the basil leaves on the pizza before or after baking?  Which usage is more common?

---Guy

[Hi Gluten]

After...

The residual heat will help the basil release it's flavor. Most fresh herbs do best when added to the end of the cooking process. Although Neapolitan style pie will put basil on before, but they generally have much shorter cooking times.

The smaller you cut the basil, the more flavor it will release. 

[Pete-zza]

Guy,

In Italy, the basil is typically put on the pizza before baking, but the pizzas bake so fast that the basil still retains most of its nice green color. I personally put the basil on my pizzas after baking, either in whole leaves or chiffonade, and rely on the heat of the pizza to wilt the basil. But it stays nicely green. Sometimes, I do both--put some basil on the pizza before baking and some after. If you dip the basil in some of the pizza sauce before baking, that will also help slow down the loss of color. Otherwise, the basil can turn black on the pizza. I like the sharp and pungent flavor of really fresh basil so putting the basil on last satisfies that objective.

Peter

[sebdesn]

Hi guys,   I grow tons of basil in the summer here...(Genovese)In the fall before frost we pull the plants and strip the leaves. Then we put a load of them in the f/p and pour in enough light o/o to make a course mash.It  is shredded in pieces about an 1/8" ,not to fine. Then put the o/o- leaf mash in ice cube trays and freeze. When  you take the cubes out of the tray (still frozen) run a slight bit water over them to seal them, and bag in a ziplock, and back to the freezer.Major flavor many months later.
  My favorite pie is just a cube Thawed, mixed with more lite o/o, as the sauce, and then mozz and romano , and a few pepperoni slices. Very austere.
Bud