You might try it as a tea, or place a leaf on top of a bowl of chicken broth and let 1t infuse for added flavor.

Hi~ Sounds like you saw a plant of 'Purple Ruffles' basil. I don't use mine as much in cooking as I use my Italian [Genovese, Large Leaf, or Sweet] basils or my Thai basils,
because I have them handy to cook with. I also like to let my purple basils grow on in my container garden since they look so pretty, BUT as every good basil grower knows, almost all basils need pinched back periodically to make them bushy and to keep flowers from forming so they'll keep on blooming. So when I do pinch them back, I use my Purple Ruffles leaves in a salad, in tomato sauce, (they look dark, but not unappetizing) or as a garnish. Since I'm only using a few leaves at a time the anise or licorice-like flavor is not overwhelming. However, I read in a blog where the writer was super enthusiastic over pesto made with her purple basil (go to: www.foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/ and key in purple basil pesto in the search box. After reading that, I aim to try purple basil pesto when my tiny little purple basil seedlings in the garden grow big enough. She even gives a recipe for a delicious sounding purple basil pizza. Please note that the purple basil in her photo is not exactly the same as yours--hers doesn't have the ruffled edges (Red Rubin?) while yours does, but they should taste about the same. LATER: I just ran out to my potted purple basils to do a taste test, and yes, the taste was similar, but Purple Ruffles may have just a tad more of the licorice taste...

thanks so much. I love pesto, so that recipe really has me interested. I'm not sure if the taste is intense, I only crumpled the leaves and smelled it. I'll go back and grab some! I think it might be really good in a salad as well.

Italian sausage contains anise seed which is licorice tasting! I use it in my marinara sause for a real Italian taste! Try it!

Greg